It's been a while since my last post--most of that indicative that things in Cancer World have been pretty stable in the last month or so. There have been some recent developments for me and some others, so here they are.
I got a call two days ago from a friend of ours, about a mutual friend Jimmy Ishee. Terry and I have known Jimmy for a long time through one of our professional organizations. The news on Jimmy is that he has an "aggressive" case of cancer under his jaw--similar to my own. His disease was far enough along that they recommended immediate surgery, bypassing chemo and radiation, at least for now. In most cases, chemo and radiation will be prescribed once the surgery trauma is over. I don't have any more details, but please send him and his wife Carolyn as many Team Mike Good Vibes as you can generate. There's been a lull in those requests for a while, so you should be rested enough to crank out a bunch for them.
I mentioned a while back that the father of another friend had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was undergoing chemo and radiation. The news on Kent is not good. On one of his follow up scans they discovered that his cancer had metastasized to his stomach and was quite advanced. Kent has chosen to forgo any more treatments, so he can live the rest of his life without the pain and discomfort of chemo and radiation. His daughter, our friend Christi, has been down to Florida to see Kent as often as she can. We know that Christi is suffering a lot, but her wishes are that people around her carry on and talk about other things with her. We really don't know anything more than that, but please add some of those Good Vibes to Kent as well. I never met him, but he sounds like a wonderful man and father from those who know him.
As for me, I have been trying to address the problems that come with my weak and irregular lower left lip. It looks like the last surgery hasn't helped that, and it's probably even worse than before. I can't purse my lips at all--even when I try really hard, I can't get a full seal with my upper and lower lips. So, I leak saliva a lot--like I'm doing now while looking down at the keyboard to write this. It also happens when I bend over to tie my shoes, read the newspaper, and well--you get the picture. Dr. Roser referred me to someone in Emory's Aesthetics Center (aka Cosmetic Surgery shop) and we met with her last week. Seems like I have some options, but the kicker is that none of them can be permanent. There is not enough remaining tissue behind my lower lip to safely graft in more skin. So, my choices are among three types of injections: something she just called "fluid" (Liquid Nails, I think), fat from my butt area, or botox. The drawback to all three kinds is that my body will gradually break them down and the area will shrink again--calling for additional injections, maybe as often as 4-6 months apart. The butt fat option is the longest lasting of the three but also has the added drawback of needing a full operating room for the procedure, and longer healing time.
I am leaning towards the Liquid Nails option, and will probably get my first injection this coming week. That will at least let me experience a period of no leaking so I can see what that feels like and decide if the fat transplant option might be worth it. Once again that would mean using my body as spare parts, with parts of my leg, arm (hair included), and butt inside my mouth.
Let the jokes commence...
Mike
