Darrell had a followup appointment today with Dr. Peters at the Kirklin Clinic. Everything is looking good. The pathology report from the 2nd surgery showed no cancer on the right side. It did report that there was scarring and the Hishimoto disease, but NO cancer! (Thank the Lord!)The incision is healing well.
The numbness that Darrell has been feeling since the 2nd surgery is only temporary and he needs to keep eating "Tums" to get the extra calcium in his body and the numbness will then go away. He was a little worried about eating the extra calcium since he has had kidney stones related to too much calcium in his body in the past.
Dr. Peters recommended an endocrinologist here in Huntsville to do the next phase, which will be radioactive iodine treatment (this will be taken orally). Darrell will have one of these treatments to destroy any lingering thyroid cells. This is normally done at a one or two day hospital stay, but we won't know all the details til Darrell meets with the new doctor.
Dr. Peters asked Darrell to keep seeing Dr. LaFrentz and Dr. Fernandez to keep an eye on the "numb nerve" in the vocal chords. He said that if his vocal chords had not begun working within 6 months, that he wanted to see him again and see what could be done surgically. We're praying that they will begin working again soon. His voice is stronger, but not back to normal yet. The left side is the only damaged side.
We certainly appreciate all the prayers so far and ask that you keep Darrell in your prayers throughout the remainder of this process. It's been a scary process but God has been so good! We love all you guys!
~Vickey
No comments:
Post a Comment