Jackie's Surgery (Day +850)

We arrived yesterday about noon.  We transported the father of the lady who is the marketing manager for the building we stay in to Rochester as well.  He lives in Wagoner and came along for the ride so he could visit his daughter.

We went to Jackie's appointment at about noon today.  She was scheduled for 12:45 PM and they told us to arrive at least 30 minutes early.  In the end it didn't matter as they were an hour late getting her in for surgery.  She went in just before 2:00 PM.  They finished at about 5:30.

It took two attempts to get the entire skin cancer.  This is normal.  Many of the people in the waiting room required at least three attempts.  The surgeon takes as much tissue as he believes necessary to get the cancer.  They then stain slides and have the lab examine them to see if they have a "clean edge".  If not, they then take more tissue and re-examine to see the result.  In Jackie's case they had to go really deep to get the entire growth.  It exposed the tendons but it was not necessary to remove them.  Naturally this is very good news.  She should not lose any use of her hand.  If we had waited another month for the surgery I think the result would have been very different.  

Unfortunately the wound was large enough that a skin graft was required.  They took the donor skin from her left upper chest.  We return in the morning for an exam.  We return again on August 25th for further examination and removal of the stitches and a consultation with the surgeon.  All-in-all the result was about as good as could be expected.  

She is currently asleep.  The surgery was conducted under a local anesthetic only but they gave her some type of sedative that made her sleepy.

Sitting in the waiting room (which was VERY busy) it make you a firm believer in suntan lotion!  Most (all?) of the people in the room were there as a result of exposure to the sun.  I'll certainly use more lotion in the future.

Until Later....

Bruce and Jackie

From Rochester