Friday July 24, 2009

Good New! (well, considering the alternative)

The PET Scan did not show any cancer other than the cancer in his jaw bone, cheek and the one lymph nodes on the left side, which is a huge relief and blessing. The one thing the PET Scan did show though was that Dad has a fractured rib on his right side. He fell several months ago in the barn parking lot and we tried to get him to see a doctor but he wouldn't. I guess that's a good example of how tough he is or stubborn I'm not sure which.

Now that the Doctors know the cancer hasn't spread to any other parts of his body they have scheduled/confirmed his surgery for this coming Wednesday July 29th, 8:00 a.m. at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. The Surgeons will be removing his jaw bone and he will have his mouth aligned and wired shut to allow the muscle to stretch on the right side jaw. He will have a trachea tube to help him breath because he will have a lot of swelling. He will also have a feeding tube which will stay in until he finishes his radiation and chemo. He will be in the hospital for 2 weeks provided their is no complications. As long as everything goes as planned his radiation therapy will start 6 to 8 weeks after surgery and provided he is doing well with the radiation then he will start chemo.

Mom is doing so-so with all of this. I think everything has been moving so fast that she is overloaded with all the information. She hasn't been sleeping very well and we're trying to be as positive as possible for both of them.

Please still keep them in your prayers!