Hello, everyone,

Clark has had some new developments. His skin graft from the November jaw recon has a large opening that reveals the plate and 2 screws. Almost a repeat of last summer. He is scheduled for surgery on the April 5th with the Plastic Surgeon. The PS will take skin from Clark's torso under his right arm.

We are also waiting for the results of a prostate biopsy which will be available late this next week.

He has severe pain when he eats. We have to go back to the Oral/Max to find a solution. May involve more surgery. Can this be combined with the Plastic on the 5th? We are asking the Oral/Max.

Before the April 5th surgery, Clark may have a PET/CT. If there is evidence of activity, Clark wants to have the Head and Neck be able to do his thing at the same time the Plastic is in there. Clark is scheduled for a PET/CT early this week. If there is a hot spot, the Head and Neck Surgeon is obligated to biopsy it.

Or Clark can wait until he heals from the April 5th Plastic procedure and have a PET/CT on July AFTER the inflammation is gone from the surgery.

The ENT is leaving this PET/CT decision to us. They are sure that the area WILL light up if he has the PET/CT now, since there probably is some inflammation around this opening. They understand our concern. We don't want to miss anything but there is so much going on we don't have a clue which way to go.

I think of that saying "the best defense is a strong offense". We are trying to stay ahead of any recurrance at the same time solve some of these problems.

I told Clark that my buddies on OCF would put in their 2 cents. Please let me know what your thought are, Maybe someone out there has been in a similar situation.

I know this is wordy and if I haven't been clear, please ask me and I'll clarify.

Anita

Im sorry to read your post about Clark's struggles. Seems like when it rains it pours! Poor guy!!!!!

I dont have words of wisdom to help you with yoru decision. I know PET scans will light up when there is inflamation. A false positive can scare you to death!

Ive struggled myself with a wound left from my August surgery that just wont heal. My jaw bone has been exposed since Aug. Its interessting to me how Clarks doc will do surgery while my docs have tried all kinds of different methods to heal my open wound. My ENT doesnt want surgery on this area since its been exposed to radiation and would be resistant to healing.

Is a second opinion out of the question? Best of luck with whatever way you decide to go with this.

Christine,

I always thought that this jaw recon was going to be a 2 stage process. Last summer, the prosthodontist said jaw function first, aesthetics later.

The skin graft is pulling away along the suture line. There is just not enough skin to close up that opening. The Plastic explained that he had a limited amount of skin from the calf but needed to use it with the fibula and blood supply for both. Another larger skin graft will cover a larger area using the same blood supply from the Nov. graft. He can also recontour Clark's cheek with the larger patch.

We may get a second opinion.

Sorry about your continuing struggles, hang tuff as your Buddies are here for both of you!! Semper-Fi Bob

Anita,

I am so sorry to hear that Clark is having these ongoing battles and other tests on top of everything else.

It breaks my heart to read this because I know how difficult it is to be forced to deal with complications and setbacks time after time, when all we want to do is get into the final recovery stage so we can get on with life.

Just curious why you are thinking that there could be a possible recurrence, when all the current complications are most likely related to the ORN on Clark's jaw and the extensive surgery he has had with that.


Karen

Anita,

depending on how much time/scar tissue etc after the surgery Clark still could get a hot read from scar tissue etc...that happened to me on one of my PET's.

Tell Clark to keep strong and you keep your chin up my friend!

Eric

Hi Anita. I'm so sorry that things are so rough right now. Maybe a second opinion might be in order before the surgery. I can only imagine how frustrated you both are at this point. It just seems to be never ending and I know it must be so hard on you to watch Clark go through all of this. Good luck with the upcoming appointments. John and I leave Friday for our cruise. We will be back on the 28th. Let's try and get together before Clark's surgery. Sending you hug. Wanda

Thanks to all for your responses and support. Clark decided to NOT have the PET/CT. We spent the whole weekend going over his options and it came down to fixing what needs to be fixed now and not getting caught up in the what ifs. And since there is a high probability that the PET would show activity from inflammation and/or scar tissue from November's surgery, it seem wise to wait. He'll likely have the PET sometime late summer and we can deal with that.

This takes a lot out of him physically and mentally. But now that he has made this decision, I can see a shift for the better. He is a good guy who could use a break.

I love being able to come here and share the "burden" with you. I really feel that we have all of you in our corner. You know what this is all about, you have been there. Aren't we so lucky to have this safe place to express our fears, etc?

I love you all_
Anita

Wanda, I read that you were leaving on a cruise. I just have to ask from where and when? We leave Mon. from Tampa, just didn't want to be on the same cruise and not know it.
Sharon

So glad to see you two have made the decision. To me, it sounds like it was the best option. Clark is right with fixing what is wrong and not worrying about "what if". Im 6 months out from the major surgery and now am going to ask about a CT scan. My docs said 6 months is the point where the swelling should be gone and its pretty much what you will look like.

Best of luck to Clark with the upcoming surgery.