Back at home!

The surgery is complete: 25% of tongue removed, lymph nodes removed. All results better than expected.

Day of Surgery:
Went to UCLA around noon. Lots of family support. I was scared, but just joked, and laughed to ease the stress. Another lesson learned, be nice to the nurses. They have your life in their hands. The way I looked at it, they were there doing a job I couldnt do, trying to save my life. I was thankful, polite, and joked with the staff. Unfortunatly the surgery was delayed and delayed. At 8 PM, my doctor and I talked about options. I can't say enough about how proffesional and curteous he was. I was not at all happy with the delays, but my respect for my doctor grew even more. Eventually we (together) decided to delay till the next day. That day went smooth. Before I knew it, I was just OUT.

Recovery:
I'll post more about this later. Hardest three days of my life.

Results Four Days Later:
The doctor had warned me about all the possible things that could happen during surgery. In the final result, few of these things occurred.

I didn't even need the feeding tube. I can talk poorly, and I can drink liquid. Anything thicker than water still alludes me. My tongue just cant make it get back there. My left ear lobe is numb, and may stay that way. Small price to pay. Shoulder movement is fine. Mouth moves fine. Every day is better than the last.

Next Steps:
Tomorrow I hear results from Lymph node pathology. The doctor did not notice anything wierd as he extracted my nodes. Together with a good PET/CT scan, we are hoping for the best. I am glad that I did not know the results the day after surgery. Those first days were so bad, that more bad news would have been too much.

I may still have a long road ahead of me with this disease. With continuing luck, I am hoping to avoid the next step, Radiation/Chemo...


-Kyle