We received some upsetting and unfortunate news today that my dad will need to go back into the OR 3 weeks post-surgery. Pathology reports came back with unclear margins in a particular area. It seems to never end... Earlier this week we were ecstatic because we found out he didn't need debridement surgery and if he did it would be very, very minor - 30 minutes tops. After a roller coaster of a week with full blown reconstructive surgery to nothing and now is, it's been so hard on all of us mentally.

The doctor also said he will need chemo or chemo/rads although he just finished rads in Sept. This is becoming a harder uphill battle than we thought. If the margins don't come back clear after this surgery, they will continue to do this until they do.... I feel like I am losing hope when I need to be the strongest.


Caregiver to father
DX:4/14 Surgery:5/14 resection, ND
TX: 33 IMRT complete 9/14
Scan: 10/14, suspicious area tongue & neck.
Biopsy confirmed SCC BOT 2nd Primary, right lateral tongue.
11/14: surgery partial glossectomy, pec flap, trach, NG tube, ND
12/14: debridement surgery, small area removed for clear margins
12/14: biopsy positive for SCC dermal metastasis
1/15: chemo: erbitux, taxol and carboplatin
3/15: 5FU, Erbitux
8/15: enrolled in PD-1 Immunotherapy
9/15: Heaven got a new angel <3