As I lay here in bed on this gorgeous Saturday afternoon with the windows open and a nice breeze flowing through the house, I feel like it is a good time to finally delve into the events that have occurred since the last time I wrote anything. Things have not gone smoothly in the last week, to say the least. I had chemo on Friday and then a week ago Saturday, I went to MD Anderson during the afternoon to get a shot that they told me would boost my white blood cell count so that I would be ready for surgery on the 13th. I was informed as the shot was in my arm that the medicine would probably make my bones hurt. That sounded fun and new and extremely exciting! Sunday went by with no problems and then Monday was another all day excursion at MD Anderson meeting with more doctors. I met with a doctor from Internal Medicine and his job was to clear me, in general health terms, for the surgery that they are about to perform on me. I figured it would be OK when he opened with "Well, Mr. Stobb, you are the youngest patient I have seen in over a month...", so I figured he was used to seeing people in much more advanced stages of their lives. What they want to be sure of is that my heart and main body systems can handle the stress of a lengthy surgery and that I am at a low risk level for having a heart attack on the table 8 hours into my surgery. Everything about the internal workings of my body is great, sans the cancer. I even found out that my cholesterol is not that bad these days. That was a bit of a surprise considering my affinity for bacon-wrapped fried chicken, but a nice welcome bit of news nonetheless.
By this point, I am starting to experience more pain similar to what I went through recovering from the last surgery and I am having to take something regularly to alleviate a lot of it. It is primarily muscle pain in my head and neck and a lot in my left jaw that received a heavy dose of radiation. Jessica and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then shuffled off to our next appointment, Reconstructive Surgery. A plastic surgeon will be involved in my surgery to reconstruct the neck to an extent that will be determined by how much the ENT surgeon must remove. They said that the surgeons like to have Plastics involved to "clean up" after the fact. I equated it to the ENT surgeon throwing a mortar in my neck and Plastics having to come in and fix it and I think they giggled. Not sure that my sense of humor translates well in these types of situations, but I still try at times. I also told him I didn't want to wake up with a huge set of fake boobs and I KNOW he at least chuckled at that. There are three main options that they will do, listed in order of complexity. A simple skin graft to cover the removed section of skin. This would come from my chest or shoulder. The next is a procedure that would somehow take one of my pectoral muscles in my chest and flip it over to cover the exposed surgical area. Not exactly sure of the specifics on this one, other than it would be necessary if they need more of a muscular support structure in anticipation of the radiation exposure post surgery. The third option is a free flap transplantation from my thigh to my neck, which would be the most involved and lengthy procedures (8-10 hours just for the reconstruction). Along with increasing in complexity, each procedure also would have different hospital stay times. I think the shortest amount of time I will be in the hospital will be 3-5 days, with more extensive surgery requiring a minimum of 7 days in. All I have to do is sign my consent and let them slice and dice and on down the road we go!
After appointments it was back home to pick the kids up and grab a quick early dinner and then I was back off to Austin to work out the remainder of the week. Or so I thought...(to be continued)
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