Surgery info

As we go through this long weekend and say good-bye to summer, I wanted to remind all of you to be in prayer for the surgery this coming Tuesday (September 8). We will be at St. Vincents with Dr. Holmes and the surgery is scheduled for 12:30. Pray for the cancer to be completely and easily removed. Pray for peace for all of us and quick recovery for Dad. Thank you! I will post Tuesday evening to let everybody know how things went. ~Michelle

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

Check up with Dr. Holmes

Today we went to Birmingham for Dad's first check up with Dr. Holmes since the radiation and chemo treatments have been completed. It went very well and Dr. Holmes seemed pleased with all that is going on. He thought the flap looked wonderful and is healing as it should. Dad gave him details about how he was feeling and he told us again that this healing would be a very long process. He actually looked shocked that Dad works and does as much as he does. Dr. Holmes told Dad that it generally takes 24 months after any type of radiation to heal and feel completely back to normal. I know from the look on Dad's face that it seemed like FOREVER, but I can see that being true and I am sure it will pass before we know it. He also told Dad that he thought the first PET scan was done a little premature and that he would have expected it to show some suspicious activity in the tumor area because the treatments were so recent. If something suspicious had shown up, he would have ignored it having been so early after the treatments. However, as you know, the PET scan even done a little early showed "all clear" and Dr. Holmes declared it "a good base line" and he was happy with that. Dad still has a lot of numbness and dryness in and around his mouth. All this is to be expected and will heal and get better with time. Now, for the big part. Reconstruction cannot take place until at lease one year after treatments are completed and a couple of PET scans have been done to monitor for recurrence. Our next one will be in 4 to 6 months. Please continue to pray that the cancer is gone and the healing continues. I KNOW it will be! When Dad actually heard that reconstruction wouldn't be possible until a year from now, you could see the disappointment. I would not like that either. However, the good news is that he wants to see Dad back in 8 weeks to monitor his weight and mucous healing. ( I am thinking that he was talking about the dry mouth issue!) If he is consistently gaining weight and the mouth has continued to improve Dr. Holmes would like to set him up with a dental specialist to make him a temporary prosthesis type mouth piece which would give him some teeth!!! That would be so great. This is the reason he tried to save the one tooth in the back of the mouth. He has warned Dad that he may eventually loose that tooth as well, but for now it is the "hook" he will need to hold a temporary. Although the temporary would not provide him any "function", it would give him something to fill the space until reconstruction. Yeah! Please pray with us that all of that works out and goes smoothly.

Until then, Dad is to keep EATING and trying to gain weight...and keep healing. His appointment is July 16th to see about the temporary. Thank you all again for your constant support, prayers and love.

Dr. Visit Today

We did meet with Dr. Hardacre this morning and he confirmed the PET scan as showing "all clear"!! We are so happy! (AGAIN!) The suspicious spots in the lungs are consistent with pneumonia and he confirmed that as well. YIPEE!!! It is so exciting to me that I really can't even put it into words. PRAISE GOD...He is so good!

We have an appointment to see the surgeon, Dr. Holmes, in Birmingham on Tuesday, May 19. Dad has been "turned over" to the radiologist and oncologist since the surgery and he is excited to return back to Dr. Holmes to hear "the plan" from here.

Thank you and continue to pray for Dad to recover from the pneumonia and his continued healing. He could also stand to gain a few pounds!!! (hee hee)

Results

Praise GOD!!! The unofficial reading of the PET scan shows NO CANCER! The "official" reading from the pathologist will take two or three days to come back, but the radiologist who read it today saw no signs in the head and neck. There was a slight scare when she said she saw something "unusual" in one of his lungs. Her questioned Dad about fever, sinus activity etc. and it turns out that she suspects he has pneumonia. It would make sense because he has so much drainage from allergy and sinus problems and for the past two weeks he has been feeling feverish and chills, especially late in the day. We all attributed it to his body just working so hard to heal and of course he doesn't commit to resting much during the day. He has developed a bad cough as well and again he has been treating it as drainage problems from allergies. She couldn't say for sure, but her suspicions are that he does have pneumonia and she sent him for chest
x-rays, etc. After another hour or so and a visit to a different doctor to look at the x-rays, he also determined that it looks like pneumonia, sounded like pneumonia and shows symptoms like pneumonia. So he gave him antibiotics and an inhaler and told him to rest. He HAD to add that he couldn't say 100% without the official reading from the pathologist that it was pneumonia, but I feel so confident that it is. God is good. Continue to pray as we await the "official" results, I just wanted you all to know what we know. Thanks so much for your prayers and love!

Pray!!

Just wanted to you all know that the PET scan is scheduled for THIS THURSDAY at 8:30 in Huntsville. If you have ever had one before you know it is not a fun experience in the first place but when you add anxiety over what the results will show, it is even more dreadful. Not just for Dad, but for all of us. Please pray for Dad specifically and that the outcome of the test is "all clear". Pray for the anxiety that we will all feel while waiting for the results. We look forward to GOOD NEWS! Please pass this on to any prayer warriors who will lift Dad up. Thanks!

Follow Up Visit

Well, it has been nearly a month since I last posted. As you know, Dad finished all his treatments about this time last month and has spent the last 4 weeks healing and getting better and better each day. His appetite has increased and he has been eating more and more lately. He still struggles with things that don't "taste right" or things that are too spicy. If you have seen him out lately, you will agree that he looks great and we are so grateful. His energy levels are climbing back too. He works full days and has given up his afternoon nap. (I think I would have figured out how to keep that!) Today he even went out and TRIED to hit a golf ball.

He had an appointment with Dr. Hardacre today. (His 4 week post treatment appointment) The visit went well and he told dad he was looking good. He is calling to set up a PET scan appointment and should call us with that in the next day or so.. Hopefully it will be soon. Once that is completed we will be called back for an appointment to go over it. If everything is clear, we will then schedule an appointment with Dr. Holmes, the surgeon in Birmingham. That is who Dad really wants to see. He is ready to hear the "action plan". The only concern that Dr. Hardacre had today was an irritated spot on the inside of Dad's cheek. About a week or so ago, he bit down on it by accident when eating. You know if you have ever done that before, that for some reason you keep biting it over and over making it difficult to heal. Well, apparently it is a little swollen and he was concerned that it might show up as "suspicious" on the PET scan. (I am guessing that irritated areas or anything that is not "normal" lights up) That being the case, they would feel obligated to biopsy it. We all feel confident that it is nothing, but just that word can make you a little nervous. So, lets pray that the PET scan comes back all clear.! Pray for the continue healing of his mouth and the return function of his saliva glands. It can be very frustrating to deal with a dry mouth.

Even though he is hungry and eating more, he still cannot seem to gain any weight. Dr. Hardacre told him not to worry too much about that. As long as he is eating and getting nutrition, his body is using everything to heal. We can handle that!

Thank you in advance for praying for Dad. We have been so blessed and pray that God's plan is for complete healing. I will post after the PET scan and let you all know. Until then, Michelle