Update on Basil Cell Surgery

It's almost been a week since my surgery on Monday, Aug. 30th and Tuesday, Aug. 31st. I have had so many sweet notes of support. Here's the latest information:

On Monday, I had the Moh's microsurgery as scheduled. Of course, there was no way to know how much cancer was present until they did the surgery.

I was prepped for the surgery at 7:00 a.m. as my dear wife, Dee Ann, was by my side every step of the way. I could not have gone through this without her.

I was given local anesthesia in my nose. This went better than the first time when I had my first biopsy. I just had to bite the bullet that time. This time, the nurse actually iced my nose down first. That made a HUGE difference!

Of course, I had been given a valium prior to the procedure, so I was quite relaxed through it all.

The surgeon did the initial "scoop" of the area on the tip of my nose. After about an hour or so, the nurse came back and said it looked like they were going to have to go deeper the second time, but that it was in the middle of the area. That sounded good to me in that I didn't want to go wider-having no clue how "wide" was the area of the first initial "scoop".

After that second surgery, the doctor came back and said, "You are cured. We got it all." Those words just rang within my spirit. I can't begin to describe how that sounds coming from your doctor. My brother who died at 23 from liver cancer never heard those words. My father who lived 16 years with lymphatic cancer never heard those words. I got to hear those words. I love the way he said it, too–without hesitation, without doubt. I am blessed!

Of course, at the time, my nose was bandaged and I had no idea of the size of the wound...until the next morning.

I went to bed that night and slept very well. Dee Ann had to get up at 4:15 am to take me to surgery scheduled at 7:15 a.m. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30th. I was taken to the surgery table 45 minutes later. The surgeon greeted me and proceeded to take off the bandages for the first time since the surgery the day before. He looked at the wound and then handed me a mirror. I hesitated to look for a moment. Then, I just looked into the mirror. No words could have braced me really. What I saw was a 3/4" hole in my nose on the right tip. It was deep. I could actually see the cartilage. In fact, that's all I could see. The skin over that area completely gone. It was surreal really. It was like seeing a face that isn't yours in a mirror.

The doctor began to go over the "options" with me. He said we could just do a simple skin graft, but because of the amount of cartilage, it would be like trying to plant a flower bed on a tile floor. There were no options really. I told him, let's fix it and let's do it right...which meant the flap surgery. (See my previous post for a description). He agreed and then I met my anesthesiologist. I can remember him telling me something...and then waking up some 3 hours later in recovery.

I was out of it when I came around. I was given the mirror again and when I looked in the mirror, thought it even more a bizarre hallucination at first...then it began to sink in...wow. I had 30+ stitches going from the hairline in the middle of my forehead to the bottom of my nose...with this bloody gauze bridge looking thing in the middle of my face. Suddenly, without it even having time to sink in, the nurse said,"I'm going to go get your wife now."

She came back with Dee Ann and stood behind the curtain around my bed. I could hear her tell Dee Ann, "Ok, are you ready?" Then, she pulled back the curtain. I saw my wife stand there and turn white...well, more white...right in front of me while looking at me. She teared up...and then I could see her whole face and attitude change to "we are going to get through this." I love that about her...along with about a thousand other reasons.

She is a very strong Christian. I saw her dig deep within herself right then and there, step beside and let the life of Christ come shining through her.

It's Sunday, almost a week later now. She and my son are at church while I am home recovering and posting this to my blog this morning. She has been so supportive of me this whole week. Dressing my bandages, making sure I keep my chin up–literally and figuratively.

Tomorrow is Labor Day. So, I have today and tomorrow and then on Tuesday, her and my father-in-law are taking me to the Houston medical center to get my stitches taken out. The doctor called me over the week to check up on me. I remember one time I told him how I was admiring his handiwork. He took no credit for the procedure–although, he is truly an amazing plastic surgeon–and sculptor.

Where once there was a hole the size of U.S. nickel in the tip of my nose, there is now a whole nose with matching skin texture. I realize that had this happened to me 100 years ago, even though basil cell cancer a slow growing cancer...it can be very destructive on it's way to being fatal. To be told "You are cured" and to see a whole nose now makes me ever so glad that God decided to put me on this planet when He did. Now, THAT was a great idea! =)

Again, if you have any questions about the Moh's microsurgery or reconstructive "flap" surgery, please email me at kfarley07@mac.com.

New ideas in Basil Cell Carcinoma treatment

Sometime last January (2010), I noticed a little red bump on my nose. So I took notice of it and went on my merry way. Well, because this little red bump on my nose surfaced on the very tip of my nose looking like a popped zit, I became ever mindful of taking my shirts on and off. I didn't want the shirt to scrape against it and knock of the little scab on the tip of my nose. After quite a few accidental bumps or scratches, I noticed after about 3 months that the area was not healing very fast.

As a result, I contacted a dermatologist in the Sugar Land area, Dr. Hurwitz. I arrived at my appointment with him about mid-June. At that time, he thoroughly scanned my body for any other areas of concern. I appreciated that. And for the area on my nose, he gave me about 3 shots in the tip of my nose and did a biopsy on the tissue. About a week later, I received a phone call from him. He asked me to come back to the office to discuss the findings.

It was at that time that he told me that I had a basil cell carcinoma on the tip of my nose. Because of its location, he referred me to Dr. Schulze who specializes in Moh's Microsurgery–a surgical process designed especially for this type of cancer removal.

So, in July, I went to my appointment with Dr. Schulze who then instructed me about the type of cancer and the process of removing it.

This coming Monday, Aug. 30th, at 7:00 a.m., I will be undergoing the cancer removal surgery which at the most could take up to four hours. I'm hoping and praying the cancer has not spread extensively.

The next morning, Tuesday, Aug 31 at 6:30 a.m., I am supposed to arrive at Dr. Cohen's surgical center for outpatient nasal reconstruction–putting back together what will be left behind from the first surgery.

For now, I am posting here that I will be hoping for the best and that the reconstruction will not be that extensive either. One of the procedures for extensive reconstruction is called "flap" surgery. This process requires the relocation of upper forehead tissue to be used in the construction area of the previous surgery...still connected with a thin "flap" of skin connecting the skin graph to the blood supply for a more completed restoration of the tissue.

I'm all for that if that's what has to be done. I covet your prayers through all of this. I am so very grateful that it is not melanoma or some other more aggressive cancer. I may be posting actual photos of the procedures later.

If you have any questions regarding these events, please feel free to contact me at kfarley07@mac.com

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!

Kevin

Upgrading, catching up, whatever

Whatever you want to call it, upgrading, catching up to 2010, etc. that's what I'm attempting to do here. As you can see, I've added tweets here and hoping to have time to keep up with it all.

I love new ideas...especially ones that work. Yesterday, I was reading Tony Horton's (Mr. P90X) FB about the recently discovered link between pancreatic cancer and high fructose corn syrup. He posted that the fructose actually feeds the cancer and helps it grow. It makes me wonder about any other effects in our body (besides building fat) produced by high fructose corn syrup.

Tonight is the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower that starts after 10 p.m. Be looking for it in the Northeastern sky if you're in the Northern Hemisphere.

Slowly but surely...

Social networking, marketing, Tweets, IM's, Facebook, etc. can be overwhelming if you're just getting into social networking. What's amazing to me is how natural and seamless it is to my 11-year-old who's constantly guiding me through the interactive jungle.  

I started on a Macintosh 512k Enhanced all-in-one back in 1984. I can vaguely remember what a brave new world it was back then actually touching a mouse–even though it meant periodically scraping off the x and y rollers from mouse pad gunk buildup. Of course, the optical mouse nicely replaced those old non-scrolling one-button mice. 

If you're a millennial (born close to Y2K), you probably don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about, but you will when you take your kids to the Smithsonian to view the Computer Age exhibit...yeah, that one next to the Spirit of St. Louis and the telegraph. 

My 5th grader, who loves his Habbo social network, can "find and peck" faster than I can type the old fashioned way...using "home" keys.  That was kind of embarrassing to discover this past week.

Some of the social networking, such as Twitter, at first seemed somewhat useless to me. However, once I got past the celebrity minute-by-minute-ever-keeping-before-the-eye-of-the-public (a publicist's dream I might add), I have found that there really is useful information hidden in there.  For instance, you could promote my blog and keep it ever before the public's eye by simply linking it in your tweet! Sweet!

Let me take a moment to encourage you to not get overwhelmed in this brave new world of a virtual society-perfect in every way I might add. Think of it as a new frontier full of adventure. As in every adventure, there are always dangers or else it wouldn't truly be an adventure. 

What kind of dangers? Well, it is kind of funny to me how much one can reveal to total strangers and with so much trust!  Therefore, a word to the wise: tread carefully!  For instance, next time you're in Facebook and add an app (you know, those increasingly annoying games, kisses, hugs, wars, etc?), read the fine print before you give away all of your information as well as selling out your friends by handing over their information to those third-party developers.  But what's an adventure if you can't laugh at the face of danger? Right?

One thing is for sure as you continue your trek, you'll find more trivia than you would ever hope to find as well as new friendships (and old re-connections). Rest assured, if you feel overwhelmed by all of it, you're not the only one. 

I have a secret that I'll share with you, my faithful readers. Sometimes, I like to think back and remember the day when our faces weren't in Facebook, MySpaces, iPhones, and computer monitors. I now consider it a vacation when I've left all those things behind in my car or desk and actually see my friends face-to-face and experience firsthand interactivity with this incredible world we live in and share. Ahhhh! No ringtones, constant tweets, or IM's. It's hard to believe that our world has only had this global communication just within this past 100 years. Now, how long did mankind survive without it? 

I live in the country on the west side of Houston, Texas. We lost our power last night for about 4 hours and for no apparent reason...just *poof* and we were back to no air conditioning (with 99% humidity), no running water or power. I was amazed at how addicted I am to electrical things. Ha! We managed to settle down for the night, open our windows and go to sleep–hearing crickets and not a room fan or TV.  Then, the lights and air conditioning came back on after about 30 minutes. I was ALMOST disappointed.  Almost. 

By the way, you can now find me on Twitter: kevin_farley and Facebook: Kevin Farley.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quick! A post!

I just read that I have 15 minutes to post before Blogger goes to a scheduled outage! Even though I haven't posted anything in months, now that I want to, I only have 15...make that 14 minutes! C'est la vie!

I know it's a been a few months, but here goes a quick update:

I'm swamped where I work which is in a corporate setting. Yet, somehow, I've managed to squeeze in some time to finish a painting that's been on the easel staring at me each time I tried to ignore it. 

I've entered 3 paintings into a juried art competition near me and should know if I was accepted into the show in about 10 days. I'll try to post a tweet or something here. I've got a couple of websites working out slowly, but that's a normal occurrence. I've acquired a new 70-200mm IS lens with a 2.8 f/stop. I'm diggin' it! 

On the home front, just celebrated my oldest son's 18th birthday, my youngest daughter is now engaged, and my youngest son just scored 100 on his TACS reading test! YAY!

Life is good! My time is out for now! I'll be back!

Kevin