Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Scan Results and an Oddity

Patrick saw Dr. D. last week. It was a short and sweet visit. There wasn't much to report after that visit other than every thing is going well and Patrick would need to have another CT scan.

Today, Patrick had another CT scan and got a phone call while at work from the radiologist a few hours later. He was told he had one node on the right hand side that was marginally inflamed but that everything looked good and there was no change from his last scan. Patrick called to share the good news. While we were not surprised by the results, it's reassuring to hear. In a few months Patrick will have his first PET scan.

Things are going pretty good for patrick. He is still sailing along through recovery. Some of the nerves have reconnected, but he still has a large amount of numbness in his neck and arm along the donor site. While this is expected, he is diligent about rubbing it in hopes of getting some more sensation back. His lip control has gotten significantly better, but he has no clue when there's food on left side of his face. In fear of chewing on the reconstructed side of his tongue he always only chews on the right, which has caused some popping of his jaw bone to occur while eating. Overall, eating really isn't very fun for him.

Aside from numbness his second largest complaint is the hair on his tongue. I cringe when I think about it. He says he chews on it while eating. I'm sure you've had a hair find its way into your mouth at some point, but can you imagine having that feeling every time you eat? I can't! Another soldier mentioned he's plucked them out. We might opt for electrolysis or laser removal. Fear not, he won't feel it.


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