Alas, this is not a condition that one surgery will make it all better-- he's still not in good condition because his vitals are all over the place, the swelling is pretty alarming, and the gallstones are making everything more complicated and dangerous than normal. I'd originally thought the surgery was to remove his gallstones, but apparently they are worried about going in the area with the pancreas this swollen. The dead tissue they removed was actually blocking the duct that connects to the pancreas, so hopefully that makes it easier for the swelling to go down enough so he can get the gallstones removed. My mom thinks they are going to just cut out his gallbladder entirely in case of this flaring up again and I think she's got it pegged. She use to see stuff like this at my grandfather's practice, so she's got a better understanding than I do. She thinks if he can avoid getting an infection, he's got an okay chance right now. But infections are super easy to pick up at the hospital, so it is pretty much a wait and see game.

And honestly I shouldn't be trying to force creativity when my head is in this state anyway.