This is Maggie. It's 12:05 PM here in Baltimore, and they just started surgery on Dan. Looks like it might be a 7 hour operation, and I'll update while he's in the OR with any news.

Now it is 5:46 PM. Dan is stable, but still in surgery. No idea how much longer they will be at work on him.

Dr. Ladenson (Dan's endocrinologist) just stopped by to give us a bit more info. He spoke to Dan's surgeon who was optimistic about being close to completing the surgery. The surgeon found several nodes, but many of them were very difficult to access. He had nodes posterior to both clavicles and one on the left that was adjacent to the subclavian artery. It also turns out that the nodes identified by ultrasound in the central compartment was actually residual thyroid tissue. This part of the surgery was especially difficult because of close proximity to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and phrenic nerve. Dr. Ladenson and Dr. Tufano (the ENT surgeon) both sound optimistic about his recovery time. We are relieved.