09/25/2025
Leroy update: We are getting out of here!!! But not after the hurry and wait. Surgery: The doctor removed every lymph node they could find on the right side of LeRoy's neck, around the thyroid, his thyroid, and tissue that was affected by the cancer. It was pretty full and ugly in there, she said. Thank goodness the Planet Heart screening caught this when they did, as it was spreading for some time. The care team here has been struggling to find a pain medication to bring him comfort, which is why we are still here. His blood pressure has come down to a much safer level. I feel being home without the stress and comfort of his own chair will definitely help a lot. The pain he has been experiencing hasn't even been with the location of his procedure. It is actually from the way he was positioned on the OR table. We were told the surgery would be a maximum of 6 hours, 2 hours to open, remove nodules, and some lymph nodes to send to pathology to look at. Once the doctor saw the ugliness inside the neck, she knew what was coming up. Pathology confirmed her thoughts. So the team started carefully removing cancer, thyroid, and lymph nodes. It was a long process as the lymph nodes were sticky, stuck, and a mess. The doctors wanted to be very careful not to damage his vocal cords, etc. So it took way longer. LeRoy is up and walking, showered, eating, etc. He has definitely kept the nurses on their toes and has had a few very scared as they don't get his sense of humor. For example, when he got to the room, he was dying in pain, but yet pulled a good one off. A young nurse was doing her thing on the computer in the corner of the room, LeRoy rubbed his head with teary eyes and a sad voice and said, where did my hair go, its gone? Nurse with the look of shook, asked LeRoy didn't you have hair before surgery?
We thank each and everyone of you that has stopped to pray, texts, messages, calls, video chats.
We are feeling blessed!!!
