Update on the Tests
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
We took the test results in to the surgeon today. There is good news and not-so-good news. The former is that the MRI and chest X-ray show no signs of cancer in my lungs, face or neck. The not-so-good news is that there is an infection in the bone. He is not sure if it is in the original jawbone, or in the bone from my leg that was put in to replace the part of my jawbone that was removed in the first operation. He won’t know until he gets my medical history.
It could be treated with heavy antibiotics, but they might not work, and it is hard to see if they are. In the meantime, my jaw will continue to deteriorate.
He could go in and try to clean out the infected part, along with my taking the antibiotics. The problem with that is he would probably have to go in 3 or 4 times, each entailing a 3 or 4 day hospital stay. There would still remain the problem of the weakened structure, especially where the titanium strap is secured to my chin.
He is recommending that what is left of the bone that was put in during the original operation be removed, and a new reconstruction be done with skin and bone from my ribs. Assuming no complications, I should be in hospital about a week.
If we decide to go ahead with it (do we have much choice?), the best hospital is Vikram. It is where I had my tests done and appears to be very clean. Best of all, it is only a few blocks up the road from our apartment, so Sandra would have no difficulty visiting me. More evidence of God’s leading us to this apartment?
We will be thinking and praying about this over the holiday season.
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