Above you can see the bandage that has been covering my surgical wound since June 17. That is a medicated pad stitched to my head where skin was removed. The surgeon pulled the wound more than 60% closed before stitching it. This picture does not do justice to how large an area of skin and tissue was removed.
I was back at the Melanoma Clinic at University of Michigan today because some of my stitches had pulled free of the wound. I told the nurse I’ve been waiting 17 days to hear news of the pathology report from my June 17 wide local excision that removed a 3.5 inch portion of skin from my scalp, all the way down to the skull. Nurse Lindsay admitted to me that it has never taken this long before. Then, she left the room and . . .? The report came in at 2pm today while I was still in the examination room!
The surgeon Dr. Michael Davis came in to confirm it – he got it all, the melanoma is gone! They found greater depth of the cancer than was shown in the previous biopsies, but not a depth that would suggest that my lymph nodes have been impacted. More importantly, a margin of clean skin was found on all sides of the patch that was taken.
While melanoma could pop up somewhere else and I have been found to be more susceptible than the average person, for now the ‘All Clear’ has sounded. I still have some basal cell cancer that is being dealt with locally.
I am very grateful to God, Jesus and Mary, to St. Peregrine, to Blessed Solanus Casey and everyone who has prayed with me and for me. As I often tell people in confession, DEUS SEMPER MAIOR, or ‘God is always greater!’
I still have a very sizable open wound on the top of my head and reconstructive surgery to close it and ‘fix’ the area is the next step but has yet to be scheduled. Therefore, you will still see me with the wound covered but that is to keep it free from infection.
