Surgery Date

It has been several months since the blog update and I have had several requests to get it going again so here it goes! Dad has spent the summer healing, working, eating and having check ups. At his last check up Dr. Holmes mentioned that he may be able to get a temporary set of teeth to wear while everything heals and he waits for the desired end result..implants. Well, as of last week he had his last appointment in Huntsville to have the temporary made and went today to actually get his teeth. Although a bit awkward at the moment...I think he will get used to them and learn to like the way if feels soon. More on that in a moment.

Most of you may have heard by now that dad has another spot on his right side that needs to be removed. He wanted to have his teeth cleaned a couple of weeks ago and Dr. Holmes said it would be fine to do this. Dr. Bishop cleaned his teeth and did a thorough examination of his mouth. In doing so he found a small spot that just deserved to be looked at. We went to Birmingham the next morning to have Dr. Holmes take a look at it. He knew at first glance that is was suspicious and deserved a biopsy. Indeed it came back last week positive for squamous cell cancer. It is a small localized area which can be removed in an outpatient surgery. We are so thankful that he wanted to get his teeth cleaned! Small blessings!!!

The surgery is scheduled for September 8 at St. Vincents sometime around 10:30. It should only take about 45 minutes to remove the spot. The real downside to this is that it may cause dad to loose two or three more teeth. That is hard for him to take. I believe that a small part of the roof of his mouth will be taken out too. Dr. Holmes will place a plastic stint in there which apparently stays while it heals. There has been no talk of further treatment (like chemo or radiation) once the spot is removed. So continue to pray for this whole situation. We know that God is in control and he will handle it all in His way. Everybody is in good spirits about and ready to face this next step. Thank you all for your calls and support. I believe a couple of good meals have ended up in his lap as well. Both he and mom surely appreciate that!

One more thing...the prosthetic had already been in the process of being made when we found out this news. He talked to the doctor about it today and he seems to think that it won't be a problem to add more teeth to the piece should they need to after the surgery. Yeah!! So until the surgery he can wear the temporary that he has now and then hopefully fix it right up as soon as the next spot heals.

God is good ALL the time! I will be in touch after the surgery. Until then we ask for your prayers.

Michelle