February!

What more can I say......FEBRUARY!  Full of weather surprises!  After a remarkably mild December and January, in comes the little guy with a wallop!  Now that I am beginning to thaw and my fingers are no longer numb, I can bring you up to date on the happenings around here, especially the main man, Lee.

Our trip to Duke the first week of February was very good!  He was dismissed from the oncologist unless he has a need to revisit, and his pulmonary reports were all excellent!  The good news from his bronchoscopy with biopsy showed NO REJECTION!  He had been experiencing a "swimmer's ear" feeling in his Right ear since completing radiation and was told to schedule a visit with his local EENT physician.

 That was completed on Friday afternoon with EENT in Hickory.  The Oncologist at Duke suspected a ruptured eardrum, however, after careful exam with a high-powered microscope, the eardrum was intact , but the ear canal was very irritated. The doctor explained that the loss of hearing that Lee now has was not unusual after the modified radical neck surgery and radiation.  His hearing test showed a 50% loss of high-frequency sounds, however, a hearing aide was not recommended.  The ear was cleaned of debris and treated with medication.  We decided to celebrate last Friday with a special treat at Olive Garden.  Today, his ear is already feeling better and the roar is beginning to subside!

As I write, Lee is having another Moh's procedure in Gastonia.  He has a very small squamous cell on the tip top of his Left ear.  Even though the eruptions of squamous and basil cell Ca. are still appearing on his face, etc.  they are very small and are being eradicated quickly.  His anti-rejection medication is about as low as it can be and still keep him from rejecting his lung.  Hopefully, the main aggressive branches are under control!

The next step in Lee's course of treatment is to get him off the drug that interferes with all his anti-rejection medications.  The drug has done wonders for controlling his arrhythmia and AFIB, and he feels very good on it, however, it has to be stopped in order for him to stay out of rejection.  Therefore, on March 30, he will have a cardiac ablation to hopefully correct that circuit in his atria that causes the problem.  This will be done @ Duke and we will plan to stay in Durham a few days.  If the outcome goes as the doctors expect, the heart drug can then be removed!

Lee feels he is off to a promising beginning for 2015, and I have to agree.  He has a lot of energy, his outlook is still positive and his determination is still strong.  Our miracle man is truly a superman!

More Later...........................................Brenda