mike is out of surgery!

I just finished talking to Dr. Haughey after Mike's surgery. (It is about 3pm.) He said that EVERYTHING WENT VERY WELL. I want to start by saying that he also said that he was very aware of the many prayers in the operating room and during the surgery. He said he is very conscious of that. He said that one of the reasons that it took longer was that there was more tumor (cancer) at the primary site than we could see. He said that the initial photo (which is what was biopsied) was only about 10% of the mass, but he removed it all. Dr. Haughey explained that there are two parts to the tonsil, and Mike had both parts on the left side removed today because that is where his cancer was growing. The palatine tonsil is what many people have removed as kids, and Mike had the lingual part removed today as well. Dr. Haughey also removed a small part of the base of tongue on the left side that was affected. I was happy to hear him say that there will be no deficiencies from today's surgery after recovery. He said that Mike will have a VERY sore throat and will start on a soft diet tomorrow. Dr. Haughey said that he removed the lymph nodes where the cancer had spread and that was routine. Like we said before, it took longer because one of the affected nodes was much lower than the rest. The pathologist and Dr. Haughey will be conversing because this "farther south" lymph node has Bruce's attention. He is wondering if Mike might have a hybrid tumor (meaning that it might have components of p16 negative as well as p16 positive.) We will know more when he knows more concerning this part. And in a few minutes I get to go visit Mike in recovery for about 15 minutes! (Just so you know, my cell phone does not work in the Surgery Recovery Room so I have to step out in the hall to get or make texts & calls. )