Post Surgery

I was able to get online before my assigned time. Cathy and I just finished talking with the Dr. Tom is doing fine and will be in recovery for 2 hours before we can see him. They have removed much of the muscles on both side of his neck. His tumor was a large size and the paralymph nodes were well into his chest. The surgery was tricky, but they feel they have successfully gotten the tumorous area. Dr. Teknos was able to save the nerves on both sides of his neck and his vocal cords. Dr. also feels that he cleaned all the lymph nodes successfully. However, the tumor was pressed on the vocal cords which may cause breathing issues and Tom will be monitored closely. I was also told that he may have massive swelling in his face. The swelling may not show for a couple of days and Dr. wanted me prepared for this. In all, this was a tough surgery and I am antsy to see Tom.

Going forward, Dr. Teknos feels that Tom will have Radiation in his future. It will be concentrated not only on the neck, but the upper chest as well. I'm not sure where or when that will be, but we will worry about that in the future. Thank you all who woke up early to pray and continued throughout the day. Please continue to pray for Tom to get better as we are now in a new phase of this disease.