Dr. Gross just came to talk to us after 2:30 (after about 3 1/2 hours of his surgery). It was both good and bad news. The good news is they think they got everything. However, it was more extensive than they thought. It was "centered" in his facial nerve so that they had to remove the whole nerve plus the jaw bone and the parotid gland, where it was also entwined. They also removed the lymph glands since that would be the first place the cancer would go. They won't know for a week whether there is any cancer there, but Dr. Gross thought it looked good. Since they had to remove the nerve and bone, they did not have to make the incision in his chin to get at it. Dr. Gross said another doctor was still removing more bone behind the ear where the nerve was to get to the point where they could see no more cancer. Then Dr. Wax will do a nerve graft to that bone and harvest some of his stomach muscle to fill in. They will probably put a gold weight in his eyelid so that his eye can close. Any surgery that Dr. Wax will do will be over exaggerated so that his face will be puffy for several months. He will also have a crooked smile. It will probably be about 6 PM before Dr. Wax is done. Then Curt will be in recovery and in Intensive Care overnight. They might even keep the breathing tube in over night since this is such an extensive surgery. He will be out of it tomorrow quite a bit too.
It was nice that the Reistads and Steve Sprecher were here when Dr. Gross came to talk to us. I can't think of anything else right now, so I think Beth, Angie and I will ride the tram for a break. The Reistads will keep vigil for us in the waiting room.
Joan