3 June 2021
We had a nice surprise earlier this week when Andy and Katie dropped by with coffee and a fruit tart. The kids* stayed with Katie's parents so they could get away for a few nights over the holiday weekend.
We had a lot of catching up to do. And it was fun doing it. We had no idea Nora had become a miniature gymnast. Take this weekend for example. Before anyone noticed, she had managed to climb one of the poles propping up the small roof over the back door at her grandparents' house.
Katie said she often hears a thud or crash or bang in the other room where Nora is playing. Before she can get up to make sure Nora is all right, she hears a tiny voice squeak, "I OK."
Today we went back to the Plastic Surgery Clinic for a debridement with Dr. Tong.
That's become a theme song here.
Today we went back to the Plastic Surgery Clinic for a debridement with Dr. Tong. We weren't able to get an appointment last week, so it had been two weeks again.
Dr. Tong does wants to do it every week. Except next week, when we can't get an appointment again.
I had a little chat with her after the session as we were making appointments with physician assistants into July with Alexandra.
Dr. Tong said we've done about as much as we can do in the clinic. There is some fibrous tissue, damaged by the radiation, that is preventing further progress.
So she wants Joyce to have an MRI. But Joyce opted for a CT scan instead. Her first since July of last year. Which was fine with Dr. Tong. She just wants to find out what's going on under what she can see in the wound.
After that, Dr. Tong wants to see her in the hospital in August to remove the fibrous tissue.
There is a danger, she said, that a wound left open like this too long can develop a different kind of cancer than the original cancer Joyce had. And this different cancer, once it develops in the wound, is fatal. Nothing can be done to stop it.
"OK, now you're scaring me," I told her.
She reassured me that isn't going to happen. She'll avoid risking that development by being a bit more aggressive now in debriding the wound.
And probably going back on the Wound VAC, even if Joyce is firmly against it. It will help the tissue heal so she can close the wound sooner before risking that deadly cancer.
And then Joyce will be able to say, as Nora might put it, "I OK."