Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
'The Procedure Is Complete'
5 August 2020
A few moments ago, Kaiser sent a text to let me know Joyce's surgery had been completed. And right after that Dr. Tong called for the post-game interview. Here's the report.
She really needed the operation, Dr. Tong said. In the abscess itself she found more infection and pockets of fluid that would have become infected. That would have led to sepsis, she said, and a trip to the emergency room.
THE SURGERY
She said the wound is pretty big, "Twenty by something." She not only cleaned out the abscess but also got rid of the bubbled and scarred skin caused by the radiation treatments. She went down to the muscle, she said, removing the subcutaneous fat and the capsule.
The muscle is intact but there isn't enough tissue to do a "flap," moving good tissue into the area to help it heal.
"We have to get rid of all the dead skin," she said, so healing can take place.
She gave Joyce an epidermal before surgery to deal with the pain and will be monitoring her tolerance for pain to see when she can come home.
She also sent tissue samples to the pathology department to check for any problems (like the cancer) but it looked clean. She'll put her on a general antibiotic and move to a specific one based on what the pathologists find.
And she had someone from orthopedics on the team to advise her to make sure the big nerve in her leg was not damaged. And it wasn't.
NEXT SURGERY
"It's going to take a long time to heal," she added. "But this is a good first step."
The next step is to do an "add-on" surgery Friday afternoon to see what has developed in the wound. If it needs to be cleaned out, Dr. Tong will do it then. She has also scheduled a couple of add-on surgeries for next week in case she needs them.
If Dr. Tong does a skin graft over the existing wound, it would have a noticeable "divot" or depression in the back of her leg. If Joyce can tolerate the pain, the skin may grow back so there's not as noticeable a divot before Dr. Tong does the skin graft.
That's why Dr. Tong checked her pain when seated during the in-person meeting.
GOING HOME
Dr. Tong said she expects Joyce will be at the hospital at least two weeks and probably longer.
When she can tolerate the pain with oral medications, she can come home with in-home nursing care. There would be a sponge in the wound that would have to be replaced every three days.
RECOVERY
She's in the recovery room now. Dr. Tong expects her to be in there a couple of hours.
The nurse will be in touch with me when Joyce is moved to a room and can speak. And I'll let you know when you can talk to her. That would be sometime this afternoon.