Dr. Whitehead was in surgery for almost 11 hours on Friday, January 2, 2009. Luckily, the surgeons were able to extract most of the GIANT (their word, not ours) tumor from his brain. Unfortunately, due to the nature of tumor growth and behavior, the surgeons were not able to get all of it out and tiny bits remain in his noggin. There is a small but very real chance that the tumor may regrow, but in the coming months he will be monitored closely to check for any regrowth.
Dr. Whitehead came through the surgery really well and was coherent and witty (as usual) after coming out from the anesthesia. Part of the tumor that the surgeons were unable to get was wrapped around Dr. Whitehead's cranial nerves. They left a chunk around the 3rd Cranial Nerve, the nerve that controls eye/eyelid movement. That nerve is somewhat temperamental and when disturbed will stubbornly stop working. As of now, Dr. Whitehead is unable to open his right eye because the 3rd Cranial Nerve was moved during surgery. The doctor referred to this as a palsy and said that it may right itself without any medicinal interference, but that will take a reeeaaalllyy long time. The doctor also said it may never go away and Dr. Whitehead will have a permanently closed right eye. For now, we're hoping that the 3rd Cranial Nerve will have nice rest and come back stronger than ever! On the plus side, Dr. Whitehead retained his vision in that eye. Now if we could just get it open...
Currently, Dr. Whitehead is in the ICU and is doing extremely well. He's eating like normal (well, as normal as hospital food can be considered) and is in good spirits. He's joking around and seems to be his usual self, but with a head bandage. He's been getting headaches (which is understandable seeing as they poking around inside his skull) and they've been giving him morphine to curb the pain. He's also had a REALLY BAD case of the hiccups!! We tried pineapple juice (little known cure for the hiccups?) and they worked initially, but they're back with a vengeance. The nurses administered some sort of medication to stop them from happening, but it hasn't worked yet. Keep your fingers crossed.
Dr. Whitehead has been trying to get some sleep in between examinations and hiccups, but, unfortunately, the hiccups have been keeping him awake. He's also black-and-blue from the surgery, which is completely normal and will heal soon.
That's the latest and greatest on Dr. Whitehead! Please check back soon for more updates! Feel free to leave comments!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
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i hope that i am leaving a comment for rosepoet: hope that dr whitehead is doing well! thank you for your kind words at birchswinging. they are very much appreciated.
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