So, we are through with surgery number seven! �Surgery was yesterday afternoon, and I�m now back in a regular patient room at the hospital awaiting discharge. �The surgery was a complete success, and the neurosurgeon was able to remove...
So, we are through with surgery number seven! �Surgery was yesterday afternoon, and I�m now back in a regular patient room at the hospital awaiting discharge. �The surgery was a complete success, and the neurosurgeon was able to remove all of the infected hardware and the old prosthetic. The infection was significantly more advanced than anyone had expected, with a large build up of pus underneath the old prosthetic. �That has all been removed and cleaned, and I�m just now on IV antibiotics for quite some time. �Fortunately, this can be done at home by using what is known as a PICC line. I�ve had one before, and it�s a pretty neat thing that looks a lot like a chemo port, but actually feeds the antibiotics directly into the heart where the heart pumps them throughout the body. �It�s a bit uncomfortable and inconvenient, but it�s better than having to go to the hospital every day for infusions. �Here�s what mine looks like:
As I mentioned in the last post, the neurosurgeon is going to wait to replace the prosthetic until I�m finished with chemo, probably about a year. During that time, I�ll be walking around without a forehead, which comes with its own long list of risks and potential complications. �Also, cutting out the infection also involved removing some of the skin on the forehead�that�s not a problem now since there�s no frontal plate in the way, but when they replace the frontal plane with the new prosthetic, it�s going to be a very tight fit to get the skin to close again. �They�re not talking about skin grafts or any crazy things like that yet, but it is a risk. �I can hardly complain�hey, free facelift!
The road ahead is largely unchanged. I�ll have at home IV infusions for several months to come, probably concurrent with chemotherapy starting in a few weeks, and we don�t yet know how this treatment plan will involve the Optune device. �So, we�re in a holding pattern on that one until we know more. Nothing more to report at this point� Hopefully heading home today, keeping up the antibiotics, and starting chemo soon. �Stay tuned to what looks like it will be a never-ending adventure!
