Dad's Surgeries

My father has been dealing with some skin cancers recently.

Even with all of the doctor's visits, pokes and biopsies, surgeries, and dressing changes he has remained in good spirits.

A year ago he had a cancer on his cheek - this was taken care of and a graft of skin was taken from his thigh. He healed well and went on with life.

Then they found more.

One on his neck, one on the chest and one on the side of his nose.

Now Dad was never a sun worshipper. He did not hang out at the beach or go to tanning salons. He only had normal sun exposure. He did grow up on a farm where he spent time out in the sun while he did the farming. He also did not wear sunscreen. Would this have made a difference? Who knows, but it does make me think twice before I head out the door. I don't typically use sunscreen either unless I plan to be out in the sun for long periods of time. Yet, watching my dad struggle through all of this has given me pause.

His most recent cancer was found on the right side of his nose. They were able to remove most of the bad cells, then did a forehead flap nasal reconstruction. So far he has had two surgeries, with one more scheduled to remove the flap. It has been an interesting procedure to see. They take a flap of skin off of the forehead ~ flip it around (leaving it attached right by the eyebrow) and attach the other end to the nostril area of the nose. If you are really interested in the procedure you can read about it by clicking here.

The first surgery so far was the longest and hardest.

And it does look pretty weird.

But we still love him.

I promised I wouldn't post actual pictures of him. I found some pretty good examples on line though (they are a bit graphic so beware if you are sensitive to medical photos)

We will all be glad when this fight is over.

And we are ever so thankful for the wonderful doctors and nurses who have cared for him. He gets to request the same anesthesiologist each time and the same staff care for him when he comes in...they have all become like family.

One more surgery to go and the flap will be gone! Whoo Hoo!