Max had his surgery yesterday.

The surgery took 8 hours and went well.  The neurosurgeon was able to make a clean resection and the tumor had not entered into his brain dura, this is great news.   The head and neck surgeon removed the bulk of the tumor cleanly, it was a little fuzzy where it spread into the infra fossa muscle that controls chewing so he removed a portion of that muscle as well.  He removed the visible cancer tissue and now recommends spot radiation and chemo to treat any remaining cancer cells. 

Max went into the PICU for recovery and began fighting immediately.  We expected him to be intabated over night but he woke up immediately and wanted the breathing tube out. The extabation process takes a while but Max did great, and so did dad, he really helped Max get through it.   Right after that he asked for a slurpy but settled for a popsicle.   He is sleeping calmly now.   His vitals are strong enough that they will move him from the PICU to the intermediate care unit today, it will be another long day of removing nasty tubes, IV’s, catheter and a drain, just amazing how many.   Max is being so brave and strong.