I think I\u2019m almost done. First, Dr. Kim at Swedish Hospital removed the cancer from my nose. It was supposed to be an outpatient operation, in and out in a few hours. But once he got inside my nose he saw that the tumor was much larger than at first thought (about one and a half inches long) plus he had to remove my tear duct, which was to cause all kinds of misery later. It turned into an overnight hospitalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, Dr. Lee had to rebuild my nose. This involved a couple of skin grafts from the top of my head and the insertion of a metal plate, also on the top of my head\u2014two separate operations. And radiation therapy five days a week for six weeks. Ugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A couple of weeks ago I went back to see Dr. Lee again for a post-op follow-up appointment. I reminded him about the removal of the tear duct and the resultant constant watering and itching of my eyes. He said there was another doctor in their clinic who was better at that type of plastic surgery and referred me to Dr. Truong. I saw him last week and he said I needed to see an oculoplastic surgeon to fix that because the way he would do it on the inside of my nose and with the cancer removal my nose was distorted inside, so I need a doctor who can do the reconstruction on the outside. So now I\u2019m waiting for a referral to an oculoplastic surgeon. That operation if approved, whenever it happens (soon I hope), should be the last step in my recovery from cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that, (again, soon I hope) I will post my last post on this series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I think I\u2019m almost done. First, Dr. Kim at Swedish Hospital removed the cancer from my nose. It was supposed to be an outpatient operation, in and out in a few hours. But once he got inside my nose he saw that the tumor was much larger than at first thought (about one and a … <\/p>\n