Updates on my dad...

Hi friends! Its good to be back home but sad at the same time...

My dads surgery was on Monday, lasted 15 hours but went VERY WELL!

He was up and sitting in a chair on Tuesday which the dr.s' were very pleased with.

They originally thought about having him sedated for a day or 2 after surgery but being it went so well, they were confident in the choice they made to wake him.

Where to begin...

Dad was diagnosed with Oral Cancer a few months back, he was not a smoker, nor did he chew tobacco either. His tumor was on the right side of his tongue, causing him pain and affecting his speech. When he went in for surgery the first surgeon spent 7 hours removing 2/3 of his tongue (more was cancerous than originally seen), they had to also remove his lymph nodes, they removed a jugular vein (had to "re-route" a couple veins in the neck), he also had his teeth pulled (due to concerns with the tissue surrounding them, also allowing them more room to work inside of his mouth); they took a skin graph from his left thigh to "rebuild" his tongue back up. When I left Wednesday to come back home his neck, chin and mouth was severely swollen, he has an incision that begins behind one of his ears and ends behind the other which is sutured closed; he has to lean his head forward due to all the swelling and the incision, he has a feeding tube up his nose, and a trach in his throat to assist his breathing due to the great amount of swelling of his tongue and throat.

(I know I am being graphic with details but it is for a reason...)

My dad has no speech as of now due to the swelling and "new tongue"; he will have to go through some speech therapy and the dr's are going to teach him a new way to swallow near the end of next week. We hope to bring him home the end of next week as well.

Seeing my dad go through this has been completely and utterly devastating to me. I know that the surgery is over, the cancer is removed but I am terrified of it coming back one day. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain he is in now and the discomfort he will have throughout this healing process. We sat at Cracker Barrel on Sunday, where we stopped for dinner on our way down to Indy, we laughed and joked (my dad, my bro and I). It was a pleasant time for what was to come. It saddens me to think of how long it might be before I can conversate with my dad again. His voice will never be the same as it was, because this new tongue will not have the same muscles as yours and mine does. He will be forever changed by this, scars and all. I wonder how it will affect him? Will he be able to hang in there and fight to get better? Will he even be able to walk me down the aisle at my wedding in 3 weeks?

I've been very graphic in details that I have shared today because I wanted to make a couple of points...

(1) Life is TOO short; one day all seems well and the next day our world is turned upside down.

(2) If a non-smoker can get oral cancer, that makes the odds for a smoker getting cancer even higher! Its your choice if you do it, but please consider the pain you could be causing yourself and your family by your habit.

(3) Open your life to God and the power of prayer because God is a miracle and he gives miracles each day.

I am forever changed by what I've seen my dad go through. It kills me to have to be away from him the next couple days till I can go back down there again. Can you imagine being 3 hours away from your family, not be able to speak on the phone to your loved ones?

Thanks for all of your prayers... they are working!

Please keep my dad in your prayers ♥

Noelle~