Great is His Faithfulness!

We are SO thankful and full of praise for God's mercy and grace! Surgery on Wednesday went much better than expected! I had a selective neck dissection on my right side to remove the lymph nodes and surrounding tissues as a precaution against recurring cancer in them; (since the enlarged lymph node on that side never did return to normal). The plan was to remove three of the four layers of lymph nodes and tissue. When Dr. Magnuson got in there, things looked good enough that he deemed it necessary to remove only two of the four! It is normal for one to have multiple drains left in for four or so days afterwards to drain off the bleeding and fluids. I only have one, and my drainage has been much less than expected so far. He also inspected my throat and found no traces of the tumor or cancer visible! My throat was just still quite irritated from the radiation. I have an appointment on Monday to have the drain removed, and then another checkup with him on Thursday. The pathology reports on the tissues removed should be back before the appointment on Thursday, so we expect to receive that report then also. But Dr. Magnuson said that regardless of that, I should be "through" with surgery! (If the report is totally clear, then there was no viable cancer in that area; if if comes back that some was present, then the surgery should have gotten it.)

I am feeling OK, and have not developed any of the morbidity or problems often assoicated with this invasive surgery. My shoulder is still working fine (often damaged in this procedure), and the swelling is very little. I do LOOK quite a sight with a 7" incision on my neck and a drain out of it. Between that and my PEG feeding tube hole in my stomach that resembles a bullet wound, I should be able to get respect in any "biker bar!" I am quite sore, and my throat is more irritated due to the tube inserted in surgery.

So please pray for recovery to continue at the good pace it has been. Pray for my saliva to return to help me eat, and for my throat to heal soon to enable me to eat more normally and gain my weight back. Pray that the swelling in the neck does not increase, and even that it might decrease some. Pray for a good report from pathology, and for the cancer to stay gone! Pray for continued clear scans in the days to come. Pray that God would receive many praises and thanksgivings for His great blessings upon me and my family! And thank each of you for your prayers! I feel so blessed in so many ways - I feel like I have finally passed some key point in recovery and that the rest of it can now be constant improvement, I feel like God has so richly showered me with unusual blessings that I don't deserve, and having the overwhelming love and support of so many is certainly one of my greatest blesings! I love you all!