Here is an update from my brother, Rick. I just talked to him , and he is pretty busy getting ready for his surgery, which has been moved up to this Monday , August 11th. I had suggested about joining the forum and also talked about the OC Foundation as a resource to learn more about his situation, diganosis, and treatment. He trusts the doctors very much that are doing the surgery; it sounds like they are some of the surgeons that other doctors goto to learn. He didn't have specifics on the staging of his cancer; and didn't think they used the same systems (TN) for oral cancer. He did say the doctors told him the tumor had started deeper in his tissue and then grew up to the surface, which is why he had more pain recently. I read some posts regarding the use of frozen sections during surgery to make sure that they remove all of the cancerous tissue; and Rick confirmed that they use this technique. He said they try to have a 1 cm margin of cancer free tissue removed aroun the edges so that they can know they removed all of it. He will have a neck dissection done, more in the front side to access under his jaw for rebuilding the floor of his mouth. Rick didn't thinkh that they were going to be dissecting the back side of his neck in how the surgery was explained. Is there any kind of a "guide" or list of questions that he and his wife should be asking at this point? He will not be able to talk at all for quite some time, and also his left hand where they take tissue for his mouth reconstruction will be out of commission for a while.


Saturday, August 9, 2014
Greetings-
I wanted to give everyone an update on my surgery. The surgery has been rescheduled for Monday, Aug 11. at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester. I was told yesterday by Dr. Arce that my surgery would probably last 8 hours. I met and talked with the ENT surgeon, Dr. Eric Moore. He specializes in head and neck cancer and microvascular reconstruction surgery. He and Dr. Arce will do the surgery. Dr. Moore will do the tissue transplant to reconstruct the floor of my mouth. He will take the tissue from the underside of my left wrist, and reattach blood vessels with microsurgery. Apparently this process takes quite a while. They will be working through my mouth, and from the underside of my neck. The underside of my jaw/neck will be exposed, and they will remove my saliva glands, and some of the lymph nodes. Dr. Moore told me that if they didn�t reconstruct my mouth floor tissue, essentially a good portion of my tongue would be sewn to my floor, and that it would be very difficult to speak legibly. He told me I might not be able to speak legibly for 2-3 months. It was quite a scene when I met Dr. Moore, he came in the room with four residents, young men in their finest suits, gathering around me looking in my mouth. Sort of like One Direction goes to Sunday school. I�m feeling pretty good, I�ve had less pain this week, and have been able to chew and swallow better. So I�m going to try and have a couple good meals this weekend, because I won�t be able to eat regular food for quite a while. The feeding tube will be in for 7-10 days. This is scary stuff, but I feel remarkably calm, knowing I�m under the care of some of the best doctors and medical staff in the world. I�m actually glad they moved the surgery up two days, it would have been two more days of waiting.

I�ve been given hope. The one-week wait from my positive biopsy until my PET and CT scans was very hard. I didn�t know what to expect, I didn�t know if when I heard a song if that would be the last time I heard it. I guess my path is uncertain, but the beauty of life and the gifts from the earth are all around us. Every day is a gift.

Rick