Going... going.... nope, not quite gone yet.

Imagine looking at a hole, about 4 inches round, from the side view. Imagine, one side of the hole is shallower, about 1.5 inches deep, sloping down to 2.5 inches deep on the other side. Now, picture the shallower side, all filled up, and reaching almost to the top. On the deeper side, picture it filled half way, to about 1.5 inches deep. OK, there you have it - that is a depiction of the original cavity, and how much the cavity has shrunk. We went to see the plastic surgeon today to get the dressing changed on the cavity, and that is pretty much what I saw. Lots of healthy new tissue, though, of course, for Husband, the pain is still as bad due to the raw nerve endings that are within the cavity.

Anyway, they took the vacuum unit OFF (!), and replaced it with a dressing where they filled the cavity with gauze soaked in a strange green liquid (some sort of irrigation solution). They then covered the hole with more gauze, put another absorbent dressing on it, and then plastered the whole lot down and sent us home. My task, till our next visit, is to check the gauze in the cavity every 3 - 4 hours, and, if it is dry, then put another 5 to 10 cc of the green liquid on the gauze. The whole purpose is to keep it nice and moist... Next visit - Thursday 9th April, at which time Husband MAY be put back onto the vac unit again (obviously, the more the cavity closes up, the less intrusive the plastic surgery will be!). If so, the vac unit will remain on until next Monday 13th April.

The operation to completely close off the cavity is confirmed as scheduled for Tuesday 14th April, 8.30am, so Husband will have to be in hospital again the day before that.... but hopefully will not have to stay in for too long after the op. The sooner he gets out and heals up, the sooner we can start with chemo.

Well, that's where we are now folks. He is still very much in pain, and a lot (a LOT) of discomfort, but we are one stop closer to the end of this particular tunnel. We couldn't have made it this far without your prayers and thoughts for us, and we would really appreciate it if you could continue to keep us, especially Husband, in your prayers still.

Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!