Most of you know that Lee had surgery on Wednesday or yesterday. For those of you who continue to follow my blog, I will pick-up where I left you on the last writing:
On Monday, April 28, Lee had appointments @ Duke with an EENT, and a Micro-vascular surgeon. The appointments had been made the previous Saturday by the Dr. who removed the large tumor/cancer on his forehead that had extended more centrally onto his scalp. We were under the impression that these appointments were in regards to a planned skin graft.
Imagine our surprise when after the consult with each one, we learned that not only would he have a graft, but that it would be one that isolated the radial artery for the base graft onto his head, followed by a skin graft to cover that. In addition, the EENT surgeon said that because his cancer had spread so rapidly on his forehead, the lymph nodes should be removed in front of the ear and extended down into the neck area. The parotid gland would be removed.
This was followed by a three-hour admission process because Lee was placed at the end of the line because the doctor's appointment ran late. We had been going since 5:30 a.m. having left Vale that morning. You can imagine how tired and emotionally drained we both were by 6:00 that evening. Tuesday morning was spent in the clinic once again to do labs for measurement of his medication levels and prior arrangement of lung-transplant team consult while in the hospital. Whew!
We toyed with the idea of passing the afternoon watching a movie at one of the theaters, but the day was quite cool, rainy and windy. We opted instead for a quiet afternoon in our hotel room. We both had a good nap, a light dinner and felt more relaxed in spite of tornado warnings, before retiring for the evening.
Wednesday began at 5:00 a.m. for arrival at hospital @ 6:30. The weather was still threatening, but no tornados warning in our area. Lee was taken to the operating room at 8:30 and surgery began @ 9:00 a.m. Seven hours later, he was in the intensive care recovery area and has now been in the I C U. and will remain there tonight. The surgeons were very pleased with his progress and he will be moved to the step-down unit Tomorrow.
So far, Lee is doing very well. The lymph nodes were free of any cancer and we should get the pathology report on the parotid gland soon. The graft is looking good, however; it will take many months for it to completely heal.
Unfortunately, skin cancer, particularly on the head, neck, scalp and facial areas is a complication of the anti-rejection drugs, the lowered immune system, and years of sun exposure in times past. Most of all, it is from the strong drugs he has to take.
More Later......................................................Brenda
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