GRUESOME - The immediate effects of surgery to remove a tumour

Some people have written to ask what it is like to have a recurrence of a cancer just under the collar bone and what it takes to deal with it.

In my case it required surgery and some follow up chemo and radio therapy.

For those people who have always wanted to see me with my throat cut and still find it unbelievable that I would actually PAY to have this done to myself, this image of the aftermath of the removal of yet another tumour and half a thyroid will provide the evidence that they need that it's true I DID pay to have my throat cut.

To those who faint at the sight of blood - oops - too late!

For those who have my well being uppermost in their minds, some clarification.

This pitcture was snapped in May and since then of course the scar tissue has healed, and thanks to the very clever doctor who performed the operation, the line of the scar is actually at the same level as a natural fold in the neck and so is now almost invisible.

If anyone finds this image offensive please let me know and I will remove it from the site.

Update 15/11/2006

Since the last time that I wrote to this Blog I have had a few more days to recover from the surgery.

Most of the pain is now residual and I actually have been able to 'massage' the area around the implant as recommended by my surgeon so that the swelling is somewhat reduced and the 'shelf' like appearance of the implant is also reduced. I have to say that it feels weird to have something 'extra' in one's throat however since it is better to have it in that to be without it I am not complaining.

In the next few weeks I will be able to go back to the ENT specialist who
has made all of this possible and get a check up and so see whether or not in his professional opinion all is well or not. This will then be followed up by some consultation with the speech therapist who has been kind enough to offer to see what she can do with the new reality that I am faced with.

For anyone who is actually interested in what all this 'feels like' let me assure them that it is quite strange.

In my case since I have now had at least three operations which have resulted in some cutting of the flesh on the right hand side of my body there is I think an incidental and unintended side effect - namely that when I stretch one set of scar tissue in the front of the body for example and it is painful I can immediately reduce the extent of the stretch (and pain) by bending in the opposite direction. However since there is also a cut on the other side which has formed scar tissue, this manoeuvre actually results in an excessive stretch on the other side. Finding that median position where all is well with both the front and back of the body is an interesting exercise.

I have been off line for some days as I have had another one of those complications that one has from time to time. Apparently I did not agree with something I ate and it managed to get its revenge by causing distress.

Let's just say that many years ago when I had some similar distress I was advised that apart from keeping up my fluids and electrolytes it was important to eat a simple diet. My then doctor advised boiled rice and bananas (to replace potassium). On this occasion I have to say that modern medicine was indicated and I have been taking some pills that I hope will settle whatever has been annoyed with me.

Nothing else of great import to report at this point.

I'm BACK!

For all those who may be interested, I am back from the hospital and have had the insertion of a GoreTextm strip into my vocal fold. While I cannot claim to have had my silky voice quality fully restored I do now at least have some ability to vocalise and feel fortunate that the breathing issues and the aspiration of food issues that were previously present seem to have been eliminated by the procedure.

I suspect that I will require some speech therapy to ensure that the voice is restored as fully as possible to what it was before my various operations however apart from the occasional croaking sound I am back!

Meanwhile as operations go this was one of the most unusual.

My anesthetist was a charming female doctor who could not have been more friendly and helpful. She explained in full what was likely to happen even in the event that something went wrong. I was to be given some local anesthetic and some drugs that would relax me, but I would be fully awake during the operation albeit sedated. This was so that the doctor could check how far in the GoreTextm strip needed to be inserted and what effect it was having while being inserted. I would need to respond to verbal commands and say things as requested so that this could all be checked.

Suffice it to say that during the operation my head was covered with something and only my eyes were open, but I felt as though I was alert and was able to respond to the doctors commands. I actually saw him cutting the strip of GoreTextm from a rectangular sheet of the stuff and then felt it going into the vocal fold and then had to make a sound and then some more insertion and then another sound and eventually when it was going in too far we knew because the sound that I produced was more akin to a soprano than anything else. So the GoreTextm was trimmed and the stitching began.

I have to tell you that this is NOT part of the process I was happy to be awake for. Feeling and hearing a needle being pushed through your own flesh is not something I want to experience again. Then again, there was an earlier part of the process in which a drill was used to drill through some cartilage and this while not painful in any way was, to say the least disconcerting to listen to.

Anyway, operation over and in the recovery room found myself being attended to by a nurse from Finland who remarked on my name and I was able to tell her (first time I could actually vocalise) about the relationship between he Finno-Ugri languages and how we actually have some words in common.

Eventually back to my room and then came the visitors.

I was of course delighted to see them and even more delighted to be able to actually speak with them. Meanwhile my neck area was swollen to the extent that it looked as though I had a goiter on my right hand side and of course as the local wore off there was the normal pain you would associate with the aftermath of an operation.

The next morning the doctor arrived and did a brief examination, told me that the steri-strips would peel off on their own accord over time and the stitches would dissolve in around five days time and that after about two weeks he wanted to see me again and if there were no problems then at the end of around three weeks I would back to being as normal as I was likely to be.

Following this interview the nursing staff made out the discharge papers, gave me my antibiotics a script for some Panadine Forte and an ice bag to hold against my neck to help to reduce the swelling.

Will all this it was back to Leanne's hotel room, an exit from there back to the car and then the long drive back to Canberra.

At present I am able to talk again although I am not yet able to move my head too much - especially to the right. I also have found it difficult to eat normally at present as there appears to be some considerable pain near the Adams Apple when I open my mouth and take in food.

Rang the doctor about this and he tells me that this is normal because he had cut a muscle and stitched it back up again and of course the body will require a little time to deal with this damage. So a little more pain for a while as yet, but at least I am assured that what I am feeling is normal and will only be temporary so overall I am now in the "just put up with it" mode.

That's all for the moment. However if anyone wants to chat or to write since I am once again home I am available.