NSV from the OR

links_slayer

Not entirely sure which of you remember this thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1032849-soooo-i-have-cancer

but I'm back at home after a week in the hospital - surgery was July 8th, discharged on July 15th.

Surgery went well according to my doc. 9 hours and 40 minutes later I was in the ICU.

Breathing tube in my left nostril, feeding tube in my right nostril. My neck swelled to the size of a softball from the lymph node removal and had a 2 draining tubes in it. My right forearm had a sleeve-like bandage on it to cover the incision they made to take the artery/vein for my flap reconstruction. My right wrist had this weird vacuum bandage on it cover the area that they harvested skin for my tongue from My right thigh had a ~1.5 inch x ~4 inch area where they took skin to replace to skin on my right wrist. Turns out I didn't need a trachostemy which was good (one less tube coming out of my body...). Hopefully the swelling in my mouth will continue to go down over the next few weeks.

On Tuesday night my blood pressure, pulse, and temp started to soar and I was sweating profusely. My room was set to be maintained at 74 degrees F so the blood vessels in my mouth wouldn't constrict in order for the flap to heal. Every. Single. Bone in my body was saying, "Time to wave the white flag dude. You're done." It was a very odd experience. Every breath seemed to take 5 minutes. I closed my eyes and said to myself, "Not a chance you're giving up now. Keep fighting. Don't give up." I have no idea if they gave me any meds (I'd be surprised if they didn't) but my BP and pulse eventually came back down.

I was transferred to a "regular" hospital room on Wednesday late in the afternoon. Later that evening my surgeon paid us a visit. He looked at my mouth, said it looks great, and asked if he could share some good news with us. He said (more) words that I will never forget: "The margins on the tumor were exceptionally clear, and so were all of the lymph nodes we removed." Tears welled up in my eyes as well as my wife's. Through a swollen tongue I was able to manage a "Thank you, doctor. Thank you." Since the question was on both of our minds my wife asked what this means as far as radiation is concerned. He said the path results were definitely a game changer but he didn't want to completely rule it out yet. My surgeon is going to meet with a radiation oncologist at his hospital (this whole thing was done out of network....that's a whole other story that I could go on and on and on about....), discuss this at a weekly cancer forum, and also consult a radiation oncologist (in my network) where I would likely receive treatment if needed.

The tubes slowly but surely came out over the week but I came home with my feeding tube still in. Ugh. What a pain in the *kitten*. It didn't hurt but was uncomfortable and made it difficult to swallow and breathe.

I don't know what the deal is but I've been in essentially ZERO pain since leaving the ICU. It's been a week since I've taken any sort of pain med. I asked my doc about this at my appointment this morning...I was concerned that there may have been some sort of damage or something??...and he just chuckled and said that's about the best thing we can expect and while not "normal" it isn't uncommon.

Oh yeah, the NSV...right. Almost forgot. After they were finished observing me following surgery my doctor went out to talk to my wife, family, and close friends that were there. He said I did great and that he can't remember operating on anyone with as little body fat as I have in his 20+ year career. LOLOLOLOL....Boom!

I can't get too far ahead of myself and I'm not out of the woods yet. I still have a long way to go, especially if we do radiation. But I'm very grateful to be home and even more excited that I can start eating soft solid food as long as I can tolerate it. I'm very much looking forward to putting my feet up, sitting back, and watching a full weekend of golf with my wife and dog by my side.

Be Well,
Josh

MrsSausage58

I've only just read your original post but so pleased to hear you're doing so well. Lots of hugs being sent your way! :flowerforyou:

KokowithaK

Very glad that you are doing much better and recovering so fast!