In the great outdoors...
Lillian Grace continues to grow and flourish: she now weighs just over 14 pounds, loves to smile and laugh and sticks her tongue out at all and sundry. Ashley and Josh take her outside regularly; she loves to ride in her stroller, particularly if the path is bumpy. When you put her down on her back, she’ll do one of two things: either try to eat her feet or roll over and try to crawl. Sometimes she sleeps through the night and sometimes she doesn’t; however, her appetite never flags.
Resting from my labors....
Ashley met her surgeon and plastic surgeon today. She will have surgery Wednesday, April 6th, to remove a large area around and underneath the site of her melanoma; the tissue removed will be biopsied at the margins to ensure that they have removed all the cancer (if not, she’ll have to go back to have more tissue removed); then the plastic surgeon will take skin from her thigh and make a skin graft to cover the wound. Her surgeon also discovered another mole on her scalp that he will remove at the same time and have biopsied. The surgeon will also conduct a couple of tests using isotopes and dyes to help determine whether the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes: he’ll remove any suspicious areas and have them biopsied: the results take about a week; if they are positive for cancer, she’ll face further surgery and additional therapies.
Her surgeon (Dr Albo of the Baylor Clinic) expects that she will take about 7 to 10 days to recover from this first surgery (she’ll have some pain and will have to protect the healing wound). She may be able to come home the day of the surgery, though she may also have to spend a night in the hospital.
Thanks for your prayers and support.
The Denby Clan 