Who doesn't love dental surgery?

Hello Everyone! Today is Dental Surgery day. Earl is home trying to stay busy. I'm gonna pick him up around noon and head to MUSC for the two hour procedure. We are scheduled for 2:00pm but seeing how things have gone thus far, I really don't think it will start until about four. We probably won't be home until around nine tonight. He will be pretty numb when he is finished and he has been given some good pain med's for afterwards. He met with the Doc yesterday and he said it is a relative easy procedure and he should be feeling better by the weekend. Sure hope so, he wants to play in a Golf Tournament at Pine Forest on Sunday. Thank you all for your love and support. Keep us in your prayers. Donna

The Dentist

Today was totally not what we were expecting to hear but then again none of this has gone as we anticipated. Eight teeth removed! WOW Two are his wisdom teeth but the others are molers on both sides. Whew. It was overwhelming to say the least. After all the shock, I think we have digested it and are ready to proceed. Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. It will take about two hours to complete the outpatient procedure andt then I will take him home. We have to let it heal for about a week. Dr. Fortney said radiation will probably start July 13th at the earliest. Everyone was right when they said the waiting is the hardest part. I was proud of myself, I didn't cry in the Doctor's office today. I am trying so hard to be strong for Earl. He was really frustrated today with all this news and ready to give up but after lunch he was accepting it and moving on. Donna

Well I am finally getting the hang of this blogging and I really like it. Thank you so much for being a part of this with us. Tomorrow we have our appointment with the dentist. We anticipate a clean bill and then we can proceed with getting our mask done and then probably next week we will have the feeding tube inserted. I talked with Dr. Fortny today and he was really glad we decided to go ahead with the feeding tube. Not really sure why someone wouldn't want to do this, it will keep him well hydrated and be a back up for food in case he gets to a point where he can't swallow. I really hope he won't need it but it will be there if we need to use it. Our goal is to keep him as healthy as we can through all this so he can just get better. I am so thankful we live so close to MUSC and such a great team of Doctors. I am feeding him like crazy right now so he can put on a few extra pounds before all this starts. My goal is just to try not to gain the wait with him. Keep us all in your prayers. I know that God will get us through this. Donna

Our Journey begins

Earl was diagnosed with Tonsil cancer June 1. And our journey begins. It is isolated to the tonsil and lymph nodes but not the tongue or any other part of the mouth. Our DRs at MUSC feel confident it can be cured successfully with radiaiton and chemo. Hopefully No surgery. We have an appt with the dentist on Wednesday and are waiting to get his mask made and get the feeding tube inserted. We are both anxious to get treatment started. Earl played golf Sunday and I just layed out by the pool. I am determined to try to keep our lives as normal as possible during this whole ordeal. I know that our lives are forever changed, and I know it is for the better. We have been married for only four months now and we were looking forward to the beginning of our lives together. This is a set back, I am just glad we have each other. I am new at this blogging stuff, so bear with me. Donna