Monday, December 28, 2009

Monday...December 28th...2009...720th BLOG

Where do I start......

I suppose we should have been prepared for anything today.....but we weren't....

Linda's MOHS surgery on her basal cancer on her right nostril on her nose was not a "walk in the park" as we had anticipated....as during the biopsy, the Dermatologist indicated he thought they had caught it early....so we had a false sense of security.

The surgery required "two scoops".....one has to understand MOHS surgery to get what that means....which is they "keep digging" till they get it all....between each scoop they analyze the cells under the microscope until no more cancer is seen.

After the first "scoop", the Dermatologist (AKA the MOHS surgeon) indicated a worse case scenario where they would have to do the rebuilding of tissue in stages which would put off our return to Florida. After the second "scoop" he indicated the good news was that the cancer had gone upward (north) instead of down to the edge of the nostril (south) so the reconstruction could be done today....

He presented three options including closing the wound thereby eliminating the crease between the nostril and the cheek (wouldn't that look funny).....he said they could also take skin from behind the ear and create new tissue in the area but it would look different (dido..wouldn't that look funny)....and then Linda said.."do to me what you would recommend to your wife"...and there we all agreed to option three....which was involving extensive cutting of the face in the creases (remember last year plus a bit more) ......making a flap with skin and curing the end to make up for the part of the nostril missing.....

So a total of almost 6 hours in total...a room that looked like a war had taken place...etc...etc.....Mrs. Wood survived and we are home....

The bad news is she has to be very careful for 3 days and not bend over....which might rupture the blood vessels in the surgery and create a BIG problem...including major surgery...etc...etc....

She will get the stitches....we lost count of the number of stitches...they are many..."enough to do the job" the surgeon said.....Linda thinks 40 plus!.....out next Tuesday....

What now.....lay low for a few days....we have a lot of meetings (attorneys, brokers, bankers, etc..) Wednesday which she will attend if she feels up to it....then on to Portland for the weekend..again if she is up to it....which she should....

Pictures below...first..after the first "scoop"....second..home after the surgery......not a "happy camper".......



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey Linda mom what's up? Its your other son Bret. Ty and Laina are huge. Ty is in first grade and Laina is in kindergarden. How long are you staying in town before you head back to Florida?. My prayers and thought are with you. You look great wow. No grey hair. I on the other hand have lots of grey. I blame it on my kids. Love ya Bret

Anonymous said...

We just came back from a belated white Christmas in Ohio (didn't snow till Sunday) and have been catching up on the blogs. Hope you're both taking it easy while Linda heals from the surgery.

Have a wonderful rest of the week, and a very Happy New Year!

Love,
Jim and Swee

Anonymous said...

Alright girl, nothing can be easy with you. You just wanted to excite and ive "Nurse Dave" something to do. I am glad they got it all. You know you still are beautiful no matter what.
Also, this is the time to recup with the weather being so cold. I know you could be in Florida. This way your kids can be with you.
Rachel is "enjoying" the snow here.Ha!Ha! Her cousins are going sledding don't sound fun to me.
Well, don't you bend over !!!!!
Take it easy.
Love,
Janet

Anonymous said...

Hello Gorgeous!
You are beautiful - and how clever it was of you to suggest that the surgeon's wife should look as good as you will afterwards!

You know that sweet face of yours shines through no matter what kind of stitches and bandages are involved.

Rest, take it easy and let the healing begin!

Love and a big hug,
Mary