| Monday July 9th - Kara had a scheduled Perotidectomy at Troy Beaumont Hospital performed by Dr. Richard Arden. He spent 5 hours removing a 3 cm tumor removed from her perotid gland. The surgery took an extra 2 hours because her facial nerve ran right through the tumor. Dr. Arden was very carful not to damage the nerve and predicts that she will experience no paralysis. In order to save the nerve; however, he did leave bits of the tumor on the nerve. Because of her age, he did not want to sacrifice the nerve with other treatment options available. Unfortunately the tumor was malignant, and is being sent out for a pathology report. We may get the results on Friday when Kara has her bandages removed at the ENT's office. Based on the path report, she will meet with an oncologist to determine which radiation and chemotherapy treatment we pursue next. |
| Friday July 13th - Kara had her bandages and the drain removed at the ENT's office this morning. She has continued to experiece no paralysis. Her scar, which starts inside the ear, runs down the front of the ear lobe, and extends another 3-4 cms down her neck, looks very good. As it heals it should be hardly noticable. She has an appointment Monday at 3 PM to have her stitches removed. -She met with the oncologist later this afternoon. The complete pathology report is not yet available, but based on preliminary results, the oncologist wants to start an aggressive treatement of radiation and chemotherapy in about 4 weeks. We have an appointment Thurday morning with, Dr. Gary Gustafson, Beaumont's Director of Radiation Oncology, for a full body PET scan to determine if the cancer is spreading anywhere else in the body. |
| Sunday July 15th - Kara spent much of the last week recouperating from her surgery. Although her cheek, lips, neck, and ear are still swollen, she manages eat more every day. Most of her day is spent resting. She describes her pain as a 3 out of 10, but her biggest complaint is of boredom. - Tomorrow being monday, Kara plans on going back to work. She will work part of the day from home, and will spend a short amount of time in the office. |
| Friday July 20th - Kara had her PET scan today to find out if the cancer has spread anywhere else in her body. We will get the results of the scan at the oncologist's office on Wednesday. - Although the full pathology report is not back yet, based on the preliminary report, the oncologist wants to move up his initial timeline for treatment. He originally wanted to wait six weeks before radiation and chemotherapy, but because of the aggressive nature of Kara's tumor, he now wants to start treatment in four weeks. The full pathology report will also be back on wednesday, and we will find out what type of tumor she has and what stage of cancer she is in. |
| Wednesday July 25 - We met with Kara's medical oncologist, Dr. Folbe, today. He gave us the results of the PET scan. Thankfully, the cancer has not spread anywhere else in Kara's body; however, based on the size of the tumor (4 cm) and the placement within the facial nerve, Dr. Folbe thinks that Kara is in stage three or four. He also gave us a name for Kara's tumor: high grade poorly diferentiated carcenoma; however, it's nickname is Herbert. - He also told us about her treatment schedule. She will have 35 daily treatments of radiation at Troy Beaumont each 1 hour. (IMRT - intensity modulated radiation therapy) She will also have three chemotherapy sessions (Cisplatin), each four hours, at Oakland Medical Center. - The potential side effects can be severe: extreme fatigue, loss of saliva production, loss of taste, 2nd and 3rd degree burns on inside and outside of the throat, complete swelling of the throat, potential hearing loss, 20% loss of body mass, dehydration, (both of which may lead to a feeding tube), muscle aches, constipation, kidney infection. These effects will start 2-3 weeks after treatment begins and last 2-3 weeks after treatment ends. |
| Friday July 27 - Kara's treatments have been scheduled. She starts Monday August 6th with both chemo and radiation. Radiation continues every weekday for seven weeks. Her next two chemo treatments are August 27 and Sept 17th. - Dr. Arden compiled all of Kara's records and sent them to the Cleveland Clinic where Kara will have a second opinion next week. Dr. Arden's attitude torwads a second opinion put Kara at ease. He was very willing to send along her records and work with any other doctors as Kara saw fit. |