Lessons of Patience. Fear. Empathy. Hope. Sadness.
Man, Cancer treatment is a long, painful, tiring process. And Maikal only did Radiation! I can't even imagine the process of Chemo. It's painful enough just watching the person you love most in this world go through so much pain and suffering, let alone BE the one enduring it.
Radiation was killer. Literally. It was killing Maikal's skin both in and out. When treatment started, Maikal had the great idea of taking a photo once a day or every other day to see the process of this leg. The burn was so subtle in the beginning, so I only have a few posted here. The marks on his leg are there to help the machine target the exact same spot for radiation so as to not damage anything more than it needs to.
The first 2 weeks seemed to be just fine. No pain or fatigue. Week 3 came along and the symptoms came in full force. By 6pm Maikal would crash and fall asleep almost every night. His leg was throbbing in pain 100% of the time, and it seemed like nothing helped. He applied his creams and gels 20x's a day to help, but it can only do so much. The nights were uncomfortable, which only fed the fatigue. Although Maikal did miss some schooling, he has done SO WELL in spite of all he is going through. I am a proud wife!
When the 5 week treatment ended, the doctors made it clear that it would get worse before it got better, and man were they right. As you can see from the last photo, his skin did split, it was like a bad burn with cuts along the back of the knee. Doesn't that just make you cringe!?? That stayed the same for about 2 weeks! 3 week post radiation, and his leg was FINALLY starting to heal. Hurray!! Now, look at that last gross photo of the split skin.....and imagine that inside of his leg, but 10x worse. I know, crazy. The radiation was more powerful on his insides than outside, in order to do its job on the Cancer.
So currently, Maikal is doing very well. The pain has gone down significantly. But it is really itchy!! Still a ton of healing to do, but he is still doing everything he can to heal so there is minimum damage.
Now onto more scary news.
SURGERY.
May 2nd is the big day. SO SOON!
Maikal met with his Doctors this past week, and it was an intense appointment. The first 45 min of the appt was about his option for Amputation. Yup....you read that right. CUTTING HIS LEG OFF.
Ummm what??? That wasn't even on our radar as far as outcomes. Honestly it has made us sick to our stomaches. It is the better way of making sure they get ALL the Cancer. But Maikal has made it clear to the Doctors that he would like to keep his leg and go for the plan of a successful surgery.
Which is: They plan to go in and cut out as much of the mass as possible, but, with the mass surrounding the Sciatic Nerve (big important one that controls everything), the DR won't be able to get it off of there himself, they will blast his nerve with radiation DURING the surgery and have the hope that that will get the rest that they are unable to get. There is also the complications of all those capillaries and veins running through, which they are bringing in a specialist for. So....basically he could bleed out. Yup. But.....that's obviously not what we are hoping for, if everything goes well, Maikal will be able to keep his leg and he will be Cancer free!
You guys, this is a very big, scary, important, and life changing Surgery. So many things could go wrong, but so many things could go right!!!!!
So, we would like to invite you to pray with us for a successful surgery. For minimal damage to Maikal's leg so it will heal from nerve damage, and for a smooth recovery.
#Maikalcanmakeit #wecandohardthings
