We found out on Friday, after the lab examined the lump that was removed in the operation on August 30, that the surgeon needs to operate again and take more out. This is very sad news and has us all down in the dumps. But we are renewed in our determination to pray about this and to hope for the best. The prognosis is still excellent but we had hoped the operation last week was going to be the end of it. Now, Cindy is faced with another operation and radiation treatments that could last into December.
We would appreciate your prayers. Thank you.
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2 comments:
Why didn't the Doctor just take all of the cancer out at once?
That's a good question. We've learned a lot about how this all works when we talked with the surgeon before the operation.
You can't tell cancer cells from other cells just by looking at them. So, the surgeon depends on other doctors to take images of the tissue and samples of the tissue in various places. Then they pass those samples on to lab technicians who can study the cells and decide which ones are cancerous and which are threatening to turn into cancer.
Then, all these people get together and decide how much tissue to take out. They can't check each and every cell out so they have to take samples from different area. There is always room for error but with all the advances in medicine, the error is pretty small.
The technicians then tell the surgeon where they think the cancer cells end and he takes out a bit more tissue than that. You want to take as little tissue out as possible so you keep the injury to the patient as low as possible.
In our case, there were some cancer cells closer to the edges of what was removed than they thought they would be so the surgeon is being cautious and going in to take out more tissue. They will test that again after the operation to make sure they got it all.
We pray that it will end here. Join us in praying for that, Mr. Slick. Thank you.
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