He had the official surgery follow up this morning, and he's recovered quite well. The doctor has no concerns on that part of the plan.
So, he will have the first radiation treatment Tuesday, Jan. 3. And first chemotherapy the next day. So, the next leg of this journey begins in earnest on Tuesday.
So, it turns out, we will be proceeding with radiation/chemo as planned, no further surgery.
Call came in from the doctor with the update from their team meeting about 9:30am.
They basically all agree that the source tumor was in the right tonsil, one of several they removed. However, the surgeon has concerns regarding results from the base-of-tongue biopsy, and they will be reviewing those slides again. Which may impact final target for radiation.
Regardless, treatment will start next week. Radiation/chemo is needed to make sure they get it all.
We'll be going in for official surgery follow up on Friday, then treatment starts on Tuesday.
In the meantime, he can eat "easy to chew" foods. And he has swallow exercises to do 3 times a day from yesterday's appointments.
The review of his swallow function today was decent. He is now allowed to eat "easy to chew" foods, so not just "soft" or liquid foods.
He's enjoying scrambled eggs and pancakes as I type this post.
Mostly just want to offer a little holiday wish to all - may the new year bring joy, peace, and healing for all.
One of many experiments we'll be trying the next few months. And a successful one! Woohoo!!
We received his schedule for the first week of radiation/chemo treatments to start the first week of January 2023. This still may change pending next week's "analysis and re-evaluation meeting" by the medical team, but in the meantime, everything is still moving forward with the current plan.
Lots of appointments!!! OMG. These treatments won't be the only appointments during the weeks of radiation/chemo. Honestly, so much to keep track of - and so easy to feel like we have no control. Yeesh. Can't imagine anyone trying to manage this all by themselves.
Regardless, we are working hard to tame the chaos and keep track of everything. Doing everything we can to assure the best outcome.
If you are interested in more details, see below.
Okay. Interesting day. We learned at the chemo consultation that the sessions are planned to be about 4 hours long once a week - to follow that day's radiation treatment and run simultaneously with radiation.
However, we also learned that the surgery results found NO cancer in the left tonsils or the biopsies from the back of the tongue - those were all clear of cancer (source tumor was found in right tonsil). Which turns out to mean there is a chance the treatment plan will change.
There will be another meeting of all the involved doctors/departments next week Wednesday to further analyze and discuss the options going forward, including the new info from today's CT. It is possible they will decide another surgery is the best course, without any radiation or chemo. Or possibly surgery and either radiation or chemo but not both!?!
Everything is still proceeding for now as though we'll move into the simultaneous treatment without more surgery, but it won't actually start until January - after the meeting next week. We'll be called after that meeting to discuss what the options are and final plans will be determined then.
Encouraging to know that the cancer hadn't taken over his entire throat, right?!? 🤪
The Radiation Oncologist just called us with the results a few minutes ago.
The primary source turns out to be a small tumor found in one of his right tonsils, one of several that were removed. Did not remove all the cancer though, obviously. But the doctor was very pleased with the results as it will make radiation targeting "much more favorable."
This is good news. ❤❤❤
Just had the telephone appointment with the Radiation Oncologist. The surgery results are not yet available. He says he was perhaps being "optimistic" expecting they would be ready this quickly. He promised he will call the day he receives the results, but he will call by the end of the week regardless.
So, basically, we are still in wait mode.
Biff (& I) felt good about the suggestion the cancer could be a much smaller spread - something we hadn't understood was possible before. (More on this below.)
Best news for now is he's in great shape today. Wanted pain meds at 4:45am, but he decided he didn't need them at 10:45am! And he's clear headed and more energetic today! ❤
And he's still not in pain!
Instead, he's enjoying a bit of ice cream. LOL
Got through the night without needing any pain meds! In fact, he hasn't yet felt the need to take the pain meds this morning even!
Biff is doing quite well. I mean, he's always more than ready for his dose of pain meds, but he's holding up, all things considered.
We even took a short walk with the dogs yesterday! He was bored and antsy but too tired for much else. Bundled him up good. It was lovely.
Home now & first dose of pain meds taken. Expecting sleepiness soon... ❤️ (We were even able to miss Friday commuter traffic, mostly.)
Thanks so much to everyone for all the love and support. Thankfully, he's doing so much better than I expected (not to mention my worst case worries).
They just called. He's out of surgery and awake, eating ice chips. They will continue to observe him for another hour, and I can't see him until after that, but they say they are going to send him home. "Surgery went well, and he is doing well." Hallelujah! (Wow, I'm wobbly right now, trying not to cry here in the cafeteria... So glad. So relieved. Long way still to go but so grateful to be on the other side of this big step!)
Well, they've got him gowned and ready to go. I've been sent off to wait. They said they are taking him in for the operation soon. I've been told to call them around 1pm to find out the current status at that point.
Yep, this is going to be a rough time, and it's scary, but we are both committed to doing everything we can to beat this thing.
We will be checking in at the hospital tomorrow at 5:30am, and I was told to be prepared for an "all day" wait (they suggested I bring my knitting - wtf?!?!? LOL). The surgery tomorrow will remove more tonsils than I knew humans had and take biopsies from the throat and back of the tongue. This type of cancer starts in the neck/throat, and they are looking for the primary source tumor. That information will allow the radiation to be targeted as narrowly as possible for the best outcome.
