Skin cancer again

In the spring of 2020 my dad started to notice some paralysis on the right side of his face and by summer it was markedly worse. Getting to the doctor in the first half of 2020 was complicated but he was able to see a new surgeon in Tyler whom his dermatologist said was the guy to see for what he was facing. In July and August my dad had multiple tests and appointments to determine that he had invasive squamous cell carcinoma. This is skin cancer that moves into other parts of the body. The cancer was in his facial nerve and that was what was causing the paralysis. There was no way to reverse the paralysis, and it was important to resect the cancer before it traveled through the nerve to his brain. After a second opinion my dad decided to go ahead with the 8-10 hour surgery with two surgeons to remove the cancer and do a facial reconstruction. Then he would have to follow that with radiation. We had experienced this two years before with my brother, so we had an idea of what we might could expect.

The second surgeon would be coming in from Dallas and was specialized in removing the nerves at and close to the brain stem. It normally takes a few months to get visiting surgeon approval at the hospital but in this case it happened in a month. Praise the Lord! That was just one of the first of many miracles that we have experienced over the last few months. The surgery was scheduled for November 16th in Tyler.

At about the time the surgery was scheduled my uncle went into the hospital in Houston (see my previous post Houston). I can't imagine what my dad was feeling in all of this. He couldn't see his brother and we weren't sure that he would see him again. As my uncle's situation got more complicated, my dad had to deal with the fact that his might get more complicated too. My mom and brothers and I reassured him that his procedure seemed pretty cut and dry, but of course you never really know for sure.

A week or so before my dad's surgery my brother (the one who hadn't gone through his own skin cancer surgery and treatment; see my previous post His Ways Are Higher) had melanoma removed. He was able to have it removed in office and while he did have a pretty large incision, he did not need any other form of treatment. Praise the Lord for that too! Another miracle!

We were so grateful for the miracles that we had already experienced at this time, but we had no idea of what the Lord had in store. Stay tuned!