Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Stitches removed and biopsies taken

We left early this morning for KC rather than going yesterday since my appointment wasn't until 1:15 this afternoon. This was to see my plastic surgeon to have my stitches removed from the August 10th surgery. Dr. Przylecki had called me after the last surgery to tell me that even though he had removed the recommended 1mm all around the wound plus even more, the pathology report was still questionable on one side - the side away from the original flap.  I need to include the picture of the surgical area in order to describe what I'm talking about. 


BTW, it is not everyone that has the initial of their last name branded on the back of their head! 😊 The lesion that was removed was in the 9:00-10:00 position. The path report was questionable in the area of the 1:00-2:00 position. That was because of the remaining inflammation. The rest of the margins were clear. I had sure would rather have heard that ALL margins were clear!! But what bothered me was the area of the 7:00-8:00 position and below- and that little area that went out to the left. That area itched almost constantly. If you will recall, this last lesion itched a lot. None of the other spots ever itched. So of course my paranoia kept wondering if I was growing another itchy one like the last one. Anyway, taking out the stitches from the start of the "C" clear around to the 8:00 position didn't hurt at all - no feeling in that area. However, the rest of the stitches (in the itchy area) was another story. The closer to my neck you get, the more tender the area. Thankfully, it didn't last long! He kept making comments that he was concerned about the "bump" at the 2:00 position. I hadn't worried about it because I thought that was just where the flap kind of turned up, and that it was just the way it was stitched. But Dr. P said something about maybe a cyst there. At any rate, he thought he should biopsy it. Especially since that was the area in question in the path report. I said, "Well, the area I'm most concerned about was where it itched."  He said, "Well, I'll biopsy that area, too."  The 1st one was a snap because, I had no feeling in the area. The 2nd one - YIKES!  That shot really hurt!!  And then I felt the biopsy being taken and the stitches!  But I just groaned and gripped my knees. (I was sitting in a chair with my forehead resting on the edge of the exam table.)

Soooo....it's still not over!  Now I await the next pathology reports!  The nurse said if I had not heard by next Wednesday, to call her. She also said that she cannot give out "bad" reports - it has to be him. So, I'll know now if she cannot tell me the report, it will not be good. I surely pray the next voice I hear from this office is hers, and not his!!

Tomorrow morning, I'll see Dr. Mammen, the original surgeon. Since Dr. P had consulted with Dr. Mammen over this last path report, and since I had not seen Dr. Mammen for several months, I made an appointment with him to get him back into the loop. I wanted him to see the latest incision. Dr. P is basically just a "repair" surgeon, where Dr. M sees cancerous tissue all the time. Since Dr. M had told Dr. P during the consultation process that he was "not inclined to chase after it," I rather suspect that if either of these biopsies is positive, I'll be going back to Dr. Powers, the oncologist, and he will most likely start chemo again. 

I left the dr's office this afternoon rather discouraged because I really wanted those stitches out and just get on with my life - until the scans the 3rd week in September. But then I knew that getting down in the dumps would not help any. It wouldn't change a thing - other than make me miserable and not help with the healing. So, I have to, once again, trust my Maker to know what He is doing. I have made it through the 1st year, and, although I've been slowed up a good bit, I'm still very blessed to feel as good as I do. As always, I appreciate your prayers more than I can express. I'm quite sure they are a big part of why I'm still here. 

And as always, I remain in His hands...

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