Surgical Update

This post will not be nearly as clever as Tammy's, but since she's still under the effects of general anesthesia, my less skilled writing will have to do (Jason posting for Tammy if you haven't figured that out yet).

Tammy's surgery started at 1:08 this afternoon. Her surgery is now completed, and she is in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit). We should be able to see her in 1-2 hours. Dr. K reports that the surgery went well, with no surprises. The frozen section of the thyroid lesion & 2 nearby lymph nodes was benign, so he did not have to take the left half of the thyroid out, so she shouldn't need long-term thyroid replacement medication.

Dr. K thinks that the primary tumor started in the right tonsil, with some extension just onto the postero-lateral aspect of the tongue base (back right side). He feels that he was able to get the primary tumor out, without long-term effect on her ability to talk (vitally important to her as you all know!!!) or swallow. The lymph node removal went well also, with no apparent involvement of nearby vessels or nerves.

In our pre-op converstation with Dr. K, he mentioned that the official PET scan report indicated a liver nodule that was hyper-metabolic, and would need further evaluation. He must have detected the ashen look of fear on my face at the time, as he was reassuring after the surgery that metastases to the liver without also going to the lungs and without any systemic symptoms would be quite atypical of a tonsillar cancer. Tammy will likely need a CT of the abdomen and possibly also a biopsy of the liver lesion to look into this further, but hopefully this will be benign, just like the thyroid nodule.

So far so good today. I'll post again later this evening. Thank you for your interest, support, and prayers.