When You Least Expect It...

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Comments

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    Goalie said:

    The Kindest Cut of All

    Hey Fishman, I am sorry to hear about your surgery and its extent. It is likely a great source of comfort to know that your Alien is now out. I was lucky in that we had already done the tonsillectomy and the nine weeks of rads and chemo before surgery and then did a scan. Thus we were pretty sure that he was only going to go in and clean out junk. I will admit that for the week the tubes were in I did not go out in public much. But soon after that, I was out and about esp once we got the staples out. And a couple of weeks later was down in Mexico City for work. That must have been quite frightening for them all even though by then it just looked like someone had slit my throat -- which was true even if intentional. By the way, when they do the dissection after rads, they have to wait longer because of all the damage to the skin and they have to wait longer to take out stitches/staples. I include a couple of photos from then and will see about one from the present.

    Tubes

    Tubes Gone

    Probably from the time a month or more later when the damage and swelling went down enough for it to be touched, my wife has been massaging my neck nearly every day. He took 26 lymph nodes from that side and so, until the system found new paths, I had bad turkey neck and a big wattle under the chin. The daily massage moved the fluids and opened pathways and the Vitamin E oil she applied on the skin helped the scar to heal. It took probably a year for all the hard scar tissue along the suture to fully break up. Now two years later (last week!) it is nearly invisible and I actually have a chin. It is also neither blown up nor a big cavity, both of which it was at different times. And, because he did not have to cut anywhere near as much on me, only a few small areas are still numb where originally it was from eartop to chin. But it takes tremendous patience and dedication (nearly) every single day to achieve this. I can tell you that if I had to do it all myself, it would never have happened. It was my lovely wife.

    On another note, I see more Baltimore-cented people on here (at least for treatment). If anyone wanted, I would come up there to meet when people are in town. We could go for a few drinks and maybe a steak! (Ha! Those days are just a fond memory now. How about a milkshake and a bowl of soup?) We could invite Paintslinger and George and whomever else. In any case, take heart in that you are on the road to complete recovery. Doug

    Yep... that's about the extent of it...

    Hi Doug and thanks! That looks like what they did to me but the scar goes up under my ear and down to my adams apple (almost). Just one tube coming out from the lower part of my neck. 

    I'll have to ask the Dr how many lymph nodes he took out. I know he took two large tumors (4+cm) and a bunch of others but I don't recall specifically how many. 

    The pain has been excruciating. Unfortunately, Marcia is a bystander right now. I just need some space when I'm in pain and there's nothing she can really do. Swallowing has been nearly impossible as I can't feel my tongue. I had to crush my meds up and eat them with apple sauce. I nearly choke sipping water. 

    I have a call into the surgeon to run some things by him. 

    My friend had an ear to ear dissection and you can barely tell a year and a half out. It's going to be a long journey for sure...

    There was a time I'd be saying let's grab a good stogie and a glass of cognac but those days are forever gone. It's milkshakes, smoothies and soups from now on ;)

    "T"

     

  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Goalie said:

    The Kindest Cut of All

    Hey Fishman, I am sorry to hear about your surgery and its extent. It is likely a great source of comfort to know that your Alien is now out. I was lucky in that we had already done the tonsillectomy and the nine weeks of rads and chemo before surgery and then did a scan. Thus we were pretty sure that he was only going to go in and clean out junk. I will admit that for the week the tubes were in I did not go out in public much. But soon after that, I was out and about esp once we got the staples out. And a couple of weeks later was down in Mexico City for work. That must have been quite frightening for them all even though by then it just looked like someone had slit my throat -- which was true even if intentional. By the way, when they do the dissection after rads, they have to wait longer because of all the damage to the skin and they have to wait longer to take out stitches/staples. I include a couple of photos from then and will see about one from the present.

    Tubes

    Tubes Gone

    Probably from the time a month or more later when the damage and swelling went down enough for it to be touched, my wife has been massaging my neck nearly every day. He took 26 lymph nodes from that side and so, until the system found new paths, I had bad turkey neck and a big wattle under the chin. The daily massage moved the fluids and opened pathways and the Vitamin E oil she applied on the skin helped the scar to heal. It took probably a year for all the hard scar tissue along the suture to fully break up. Now two years later (last week!) it is nearly invisible and I actually have a chin. It is also neither blown up nor a big cavity, both of which it was at different times. And, because he did not have to cut anywhere near as much on me, only a few small areas are still numb where originally it was from eartop to chin. But it takes tremendous patience and dedication (nearly) every single day to achieve this. I can tell you that if I had to do it all myself, it would never have happened. It was my lovely wife.

    On another note, I see more Baltimore-cented people on here (at least for treatment). If anyone wanted, I would come up there to meet when people are in town. We could go for a few drinks and maybe a steak! (Ha! Those days are just a fond memory now. How about a milkshake and a bowl of soup?) We could invite Paintslinger and George and whomever else. In any case, take heart in that you are on the road to complete recovery. Doug

    Hockey Player...

    Your a hockey player Doug.... you can make that scar work in your favor....

    Just think of the new handle you could have...

    Doug the Butcher...., fear the spear....

    Send your opposing team into a head game ... don't even come near that Doug guy..., he'll gut you before you realize you've even been cut...

    LOL...have some fun with it Doug...

    Hoping you and Mary are doing well, and kicking butt on the ice.

    John

     

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    So you'd think....

    I just need to vent a little. The pain is ridiculous! I can't swallow! I can get little sips of water down and that's it. I have to crush up my meds and eat them in applesauce. That's just YUMMY! NOT! Other than that, some jello and cream of wheat is all I've had to eat since Friday. The pain is just stupid! I'm losing IQ points I swear! I feel bad complaining especially when I hear of folks getting their mouth rebuilt but still... ~ Wahhh~  When you can't settle in and watch a 20 minute sitcom without losing track of the plot you know you're hurting ~lol~ 

    So here it is going in midnight, I just took my dose of Oxycontin and I'm sitting here in a drug enduced stupor typing and seeing double to take my mind off of the pain. I spoke to the surgeon last night and he said to call him if the pain doesn't lessen. It did for a little while this afternoon and I even went for a walk but now? Sheesh! He said he can prescribe a steroid to help. We'll see. I'm off to my local ENT to have the drainage tube removed tomorrow morning and I'm scheduled to have the staples taken out next Monday and go over the results of the biopsies as well as set up appointments with the team for treatment. I know with the other tonsillectomy, it was a full week before I started to turn the corner so maybe it's just a waiting game.  

    Ohhhh... Let's not forget the swollen double gobbler neck with 5 day old stubble.... that's just so attractive. 

    Ok... I'm done... here comes the bobble head... Thanks for listening.... 

    "T" ~ bobble` nod... "T".... 

     

     

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,771 Member
    fishmanpa said:

    So you'd think....

    I just need to vent a little. The pain is ridiculous! I can't swallow! I can get little sips of water down and that's it. I have to crush up my meds and eat them in applesauce. That's just YUMMY! NOT! Other than that, some jello and cream of wheat is all I've had to eat since Friday. The pain is just stupid! I'm losing IQ points I swear! I feel bad complaining especially when I hear of folks getting their mouth rebuilt but still... ~ Wahhh~  When you can't settle in and watch a 20 minute sitcom without losing track of the plot you know you're hurting ~lol~ 

    So here it is going in midnight, I just took my dose of Oxycontin and I'm sitting here in a drug enduced stupor typing and seeing double to take my mind off of the pain. I spoke to the surgeon last night and he said to call him if the pain doesn't lessen. It did for a little while this afternoon and I even went for a walk but now? Sheesh! He said he can prescribe a steroid to help. We'll see. I'm off to my local ENT to have the drainage tube removed tomorrow morning and I'm scheduled to have the staples taken out next Monday and go over the results of the biopsies as well as set up appointments with the team for treatment. I know with the other tonsillectomy, it was a full week before I started to turn the corner so maybe it's just a waiting game.  

    Ohhhh... Let's not forget the swollen double gobbler neck with 5 day old stubble.... that's just so attractive. 

    Ok... I'm done... here comes the bobble head... Thanks for listening.... 

    "T" ~ bobble` nod... "T".... 

     

     

    Thanks for the update

    Hi T,

    Thanks for the update, I know how hard it must be to focus and string your thoughts together when having so much sensory overload. If it hurts take more meds, that is my motto and my MO. No need to suffer and you will heal faster under less stress too. Chemo brain is probably in control, just cross off the weeks ahead so you have no expectation of doing anything except healing. don

     

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    donfoo said:

    Thanks for the update

    Hi T,

    Thanks for the update, I know how hard it must be to focus and string your thoughts together when having so much sensory overload. If it hurts take more meds, that is my motto and my MO. No need to suffer and you will heal faster under less stress too. Chemo brain is probably in control, just cross off the weeks ahead so you have no expectation of doing anything except healing. don

     

    Do you remember?

    The Looney Tunes where the little yappy puppy goes up to a sleeping Sylvester the cat and does that bark? Sylvester ends up attached to the ceiling! ~lol~

    That was me this morning when the ENT pulled the tube from my neck! OMG! I literally shed involuntary tears! He's like... "good.. there's just one suture". He then says "Ready"? I'm pretty numb there anyway and I'm thinking this will be like having a stitch taken out. No worse than a bee sting if that... Ohhh but Noooooo! I literally started crawling out of the chair! ~whew~ Apparently the tube is no wider than an aquarium air tube on the outside but twice the diameter on the inside! Glad that's over with! Next are the staples on Monday. I'm asking for a topical pain killer I assure you! ~lol~

    "T"

     

  • NJShore
    NJShore Member Posts: 429 Member
    fishmanpa said:

    Do you remember?

    The Looney Tunes where the little yappy puppy goes up to a sleeping Sylvester the cat and does that bark? Sylvester ends up attached to the ceiling! ~lol~

    That was me this morning when the ENT pulled the tube from my neck! OMG! I literally shed involuntary tears! He's like... "good.. there's just one suture". He then says "Ready"? I'm pretty numb there anyway and I'm thinking this will be like having a stitch taken out. No worse than a bee sting if that... Ohhh but Noooooo! I literally started crawling out of the chair! ~whew~ Apparently the tube is no wider than an aquarium air tube on the outside but twice the diameter on the inside! Glad that's over with! Next are the staples on Monday. I'm asking for a topical pain killer I assure you! ~lol~

    "T"

     

    ;)

    T,

    steal the bottle of topical numbing ... Might come in handy later :)

    K

  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    fishmanpa said:

    Do you remember?

    The Looney Tunes where the little yappy puppy goes up to a sleeping Sylvester the cat and does that bark? Sylvester ends up attached to the ceiling! ~lol~

    That was me this morning when the ENT pulled the tube from my neck! OMG! I literally shed involuntary tears! He's like... "good.. there's just one suture". He then says "Ready"? I'm pretty numb there anyway and I'm thinking this will be like having a stitch taken out. No worse than a bee sting if that... Ohhh but Noooooo! I literally started crawling out of the chair! ~whew~ Apparently the tube is no wider than an aquarium air tube on the outside but twice the diameter on the inside! Glad that's over with! Next are the staples on Monday. I'm asking for a topical pain killer I assure you! ~lol~

    "T"

     

    Big Weiner....

    LOL, just teasing....

    Just think on the positive side though..., one more step closer to being Abi-Normal...Cool

    John