Follow up with Dr. Holmes

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5

I love this verse and it reminds me daily to always love Him and I know he will never leave us through good and bad. It gives me such peace to know that he has always gone before us in everything that we face in this life. The past couple of weeks have been tough thinking about that beast, cancer, that came back yet again. I have prayed over and over thanking God for all He has done so far and for what He will still do. I have prayed that this last evidence of cancer be the last one. I have given it over to Him because He is the ultimate healer and anything is possible with God. Praise HIM!

Today we went to Birmingham for Dad's follow up appointment with Dr. Holmes. Right off they took his staples out before we even saw Dr. Holmes. The incision is healing great. Here's how the opening conversation went with Dad and Dr. Holmes..(I thought it was pretty funny)

Dr. Holmes: Hey there, so how was that? Did you survive?
Dad: Well...it wasn't as bad as the first time. This is #4 so I am kind of getting used to it! (lol)
Dr. Holmes: It does seem like you are on the frequent flyer plan.
Dad: Yea, but I don't want any more points!

(examining his mouth and incision..)
Dr. Holmes: Did I hear that you called here the DAY AFTER your surgery to see if you could drive?
Dad: No, I called THAT AFTERNOON!

We were all laughing at the conversation! You gotta love that attitude! For the most part, everything from the surgery looked great and things are healing as they should. Dad has had 4 physical therapy sessions and Dr. Holmes was so impressed with the range of motion he already has at this point. That is par for the course with Dad..always breaking the rules about when he should be healed and up and going!

The pathology report revealed that there was in fact, evidence of aggressive squamous cell carcinoma in dissected sample. Dr. Holmes explained to us that several lymph nodes were tested from in and around the area and they all showed no evidence of disease. This is great news. This cancer traveled through the tissues and/or blood vessels and camped out in this particular spot. Again it is believed this is a result of the original tumor. The problem being that there is no way to tell if another cell is floating out there until it decides to "act bad". We pray that they behave!!

The question now is whether or not he can have radiation in this particular area. There are a lot of factors that play in to that determination. We have an appointment with Dr. Hardacre on Tuesday, Feb. 16 to go over all of that.

Until then it is my hope that you all pray that this cancer is gone from his body. Pray for the doctors as they look at the factors and decide whether or not he can safely have more radiation. We are so thankful for all of your care and concern. It is wonderful to have such support! Mom and Dad are off to the beach for a long weekend to celebrate their anniversary! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!