Debridement Done, More Wait and See

The debridement went as well as I could hope for, no complications and no surprises--except for the "Kill me now" pain I felt as I started to wake up in the recovery room. Luckily that was taken care of by two of my old friends from three years ago--Fentanyl and Dilaudid, so it wasn't long before things got more tolerable and I was ready for the second set (think about it, Paully).

Now the waiting starts again in the hopes that my jaw will heal and I can avoid the procedure that will make today look like a walk in the park. We need Team Mike to keep sending your Good Vibes for the next several weeks, so that I'll start to feel some healthy new tissue growing in that area, and the end of ORN will be in sight.

Off to a good start.

Mike

NED at 3 years...next hurdle in sight

My CT scan showed No Evidence of Disease (NED) which is the lingo for no trace of cancer cells in my body! Terry and I got the great news this morning. That puts me 3 years into remission! The docs will declare me cured of (this) cancer if I go two more years with NED--so more than halfway there!

We'll take some time to celebrate this news, but are already looking at the next hurdle in our path--the debridement for ORN on April 18th. We won't know the success of that for 2-3 months, but I'm told I'll get signs, either way, much sooner.

I won't be scheduled for my next cancer scan for another whole year, but will likely have scans before then to check on my ORN.

Thanks to Team Mike for the Good Vibes on the scan, and please keep them going for the 18th, and beyond. We couldn't have gotten this far without you, and still need your support to get positive results from the debridement procedure.

Mike