An overdue update
Hello all--
Just wanted to give an update. I know that Mom updated her facebook page but not everyone who reads this can see that. Overall, things have been quiet and she has been recovering and resting. They took the stitches out about a week after the surgery and she has been slowly working on removing the wonky sideburn that is now at a 90 degree angle from its original position. She has been out to Bingo twice (a usual weekly event) and out shopping a few times, but small bouts of activity make her pretty tired. No training for marathons yet...maybe in a few months.
The good news (which she had already posted) was that her margins from the surgery were clear. Actually, they were very clear. That means in addition to the tumor being removed previously, she had an additional 2 cm in every direction removed and that tissue was clear of any cancer. To put the size of those margins in perspective, a lot of cancers require only 1-2 mm of clear margins to be removed (millimeters [mm] are much smaller than centimeters [cm])--the aggressiveness of Merkel cell carcinoma requires a much larger margin to be taken (a minimum of 1-2 cm is typically recommended, depending on the original size of the tumor).
All of these clean margins are great news. We also had the first consultation appointment with the radiation oncologist and this was the first time anybody confidently mentioned a stage: stage 1. The radiation oncologist also said that because the margins were clear, that instead of 30-33 sessions fo radiation (6-7 weeks) that she would have about 20-25 sessions (4-5 weeks). Sticking to fewer than 25 weeks of radiation can prevent some of the longterm effects associated with radiation in this area. The whole point of the radiation is to get every lymph node and kill any small cancer cell that may be floating around in a node, especially important since sentinel lymph nodes could not be taken. The radiation will cover most of the left side of her face (from above her lip to her eye and ear) all the way down the left side of her neck.
Mom will see her surgeon to hopefully get cleared for radiation next week, she has a CT scan and gets fitted for her mask the week after that (no tattoos on the face, the mask looks like this), and radiation should start on Feb 10th (and end mid-late March). She also has to be cleared by the dentist, because you can't have any dental work done 3 years after radiation (fun fact, didn't know that). The dentist visit is the part she is most anxious about right now. After radiation is done, she'll probably have a follow-up PET scan in late May or June.
Anyway, that's it for now. All good news so far.
Just wanted to give an update. I know that Mom updated her facebook page but not everyone who reads this can see that. Overall, things have been quiet and she has been recovering and resting. They took the stitches out about a week after the surgery and she has been slowly working on removing the wonky sideburn that is now at a 90 degree angle from its original position. She has been out to Bingo twice (a usual weekly event) and out shopping a few times, but small bouts of activity make her pretty tired. No training for marathons yet...maybe in a few months.
The good news (which she had already posted) was that her margins from the surgery were clear. Actually, they were very clear. That means in addition to the tumor being removed previously, she had an additional 2 cm in every direction removed and that tissue was clear of any cancer. To put the size of those margins in perspective, a lot of cancers require only 1-2 mm of clear margins to be removed (millimeters [mm] are much smaller than centimeters [cm])--the aggressiveness of Merkel cell carcinoma requires a much larger margin to be taken (a minimum of 1-2 cm is typically recommended, depending on the original size of the tumor).
All of these clean margins are great news. We also had the first consultation appointment with the radiation oncologist and this was the first time anybody confidently mentioned a stage: stage 1. The radiation oncologist also said that because the margins were clear, that instead of 30-33 sessions fo radiation (6-7 weeks) that she would have about 20-25 sessions (4-5 weeks). Sticking to fewer than 25 weeks of radiation can prevent some of the longterm effects associated with radiation in this area. The whole point of the radiation is to get every lymph node and kill any small cancer cell that may be floating around in a node, especially important since sentinel lymph nodes could not be taken. The radiation will cover most of the left side of her face (from above her lip to her eye and ear) all the way down the left side of her neck.
Mom will see her surgeon to hopefully get cleared for radiation next week, she has a CT scan and gets fitted for her mask the week after that (no tattoos on the face, the mask looks like this), and radiation should start on Feb 10th (and end mid-late March). She also has to be cleared by the dentist, because you can't have any dental work done 3 years after radiation (fun fact, didn't know that). The dentist visit is the part she is most anxious about right now. After radiation is done, she'll probably have a follow-up PET scan in late May or June.
Anyway, that's it for now. All good news so far.
Great news!! ❤️
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