Donna was in surgery for about 4.5 hours. The tumor was somewhat deeper into the tongue than Dr. Lehr had hoped. Of course, it's very hard to tell such things until you get in there. So he had to remove more of her tongue than he originally thought he would, but he seems fairly sure they got all the visible cancer. (Microscopic stuff is another story, of course. Radiation treatment is likely to be sure.)
The also removed some lymph nodes from her neck. They were slightly enlarged (but all less than 1 cm). While neither doctor who saw the CT scan thought they were likely to be involved, Dr. Lehr would rather be too aggressive than not aggressive enough as the best chance to stop this type of cancer is to get it all the first time.
I saw Donna briefly at about 2:30pm in the ICU. I'm not sure she knew I was there. She definitely did not after they gave her some pain medicine. She looks somewhat better than I expected. I'm going back briefly later this afternoon, but am not expecting much reaction from her.
4 comments:
Thinking about you both on and off all day...and keeping the beeswax a-burning. Fingers crossed that all this cutting is nearing the end of her misery!
That sounds cautiously promising. I hope they got it all and Donna has a smooth and speedy recovery.
Thought of you both all day today. Dropped y'all a card in the mail the other day. We're praying for a quick recovery with no bumps!
Mom and all of the Hollifield clan thought of you both all day. If you need anything, CALL! We'll keep sending lots of good thoughts and prayers your way!
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