Surgery

On Tuesday March 22, I will be going in for surgery. Right now it looks like I will be checking in at 8:30 am and having surgery at 10:30 am. At the moment they are estimating the surgery to take 2 to 6 hours. They are unsure of how long it will take because they don't know 100% what they are going to do until they are actually in there.

The placement of the tumor is in an area of the tongue that is really hard to access while I am awake. Why? Because it hurts like hell when they touch it. The surgeon estimated the tumor to be around 3 cm...this is also not official because until they go in, they wont be able to determine the size.

When I had my CT Scan 2 weeks ago, my glands or lymph nodes in my neck were less than 1 cm. If they were more than one cm they would be concerned that cancer may have got into the lymph nodes. Although this is promising, it doesn't make me out of the woods just yet. There could be microscopic pieces in there. When they go in to remove the surgery, they will examine this area. If they are even slightly concerned that there could be cancer in there, they will remove the dozen or so lymph nodes out of the neck. The surgeon is calling this a neck dissection.

What does this mean? Well, they may remove a dozen or so nodes from the neck. We can survive without a dozen because we have about 100. What it means for me is a possible stiff neck without exercising everyday, also a scar may be present. At first, well actually, even now, I am not concerned about a scar. It didn't even cross my mind. I just want to be alive. Don't scars tell stories? Don't they help us and remind us of how far we have come? Yes, I would love to be scar free. But what I would really love is for life to start to go back to normal soon.

I know it's crazy talk. I'm actually excited for surgery. Don't misunderstand, I am completely scared and nervous as to what will all go down on Tuesday. I don't mind the actual surgery, I don't mind having to sleep, I MIND not knowing things. What will happen while I am under? What will they find? Regardless, I am lucky to be alive and I am blessed to be having surgery--in my opinion--so quickly. It will be exactly 3 weeks since I was diagnosed with cancer when I go in for surgery.

As far as the tumor being removed, it could cause some numbing. They will obviously be removing a portion of my tongue--how much, I have no idea! It may take a month or so to heal, at the very latest a patient took 6 months. Again, as much as these sound well, not good, they are better than hearing the words it's too late.

Isn't it incredible we go from worrying about how many pounds to lose before the summer hits, to now thinking, please just take the tumor out so I can move on?

I am keeping my fingers crossed.