Two new floors at MD Anderson

With all our visits to MD Anderson, we've explored quite a bit of the main building and know our way around pretty well. But yesterday and today, we expanded our horizons to both the 5th and 6th floors.


We met with the anethesiologist folks on the 6th floor on Thursday afternoon so Josh could be quizzed about his history with anethesia. Nothing exciting, nothing of concern. Then and only then could we call the surgical line to find out Josh's assigned surgery time. Check in at 7:30am and within 1.5 hours, he'd be in a deep sleep while they exam his tonsils (and surrounding areas). Thursday was the least amount of time we've ever spent at MD Anderson. With only just over one and a half hours (1:30pm check in until our 3:05pm departure) spent there, we had plenty of time to meet the rest of the family up in the Woodlands to see our nephew play his first 8th grade football game of the season. Fun!

Then today, we reported in right about 7:30am to the 5th floor surgery wing (all the way at the other end of the hospital than we usually spend our time). At 9:15am, Josh was called back to the holding area and had to take everything else off and put on a lovely tie-in-back gown, knee-high socks and a blue paper hat (which he waited until the last minute to actually put on). Here he is:


Several people came by to talk with him, ask him questions, and require him to tell them what procedure he was undergoing (to make sure they had the right information). The resident who was to be assisting during the exam let Josh know that he had to mark his neck on his right side to make sure that during the exam they'd know which side they were to take the biopsy of the tonsil from. I figured that meant an X with the black marker, but instead the resident wrote a nice "Yes" along the right side of his neck:



At 10:53am, we were told that Josh's exam had started. MD Anderson has wonderful volunteers in the surgery area who connect with those waiting in the waiting room with updates from the doctor. We were told the exam would take about an hour and then we'd hear from the doctor on how it went.

Right about 12:30pm, we heard from the assisting resident that the exam went well. Everything looked healthy, but the top of the right tonsil did feel abnormal. They took both tonsils out so he'll have a sore throat for a week and has to eat soft foods for 2 weeks. Then we meet with the doctor again in two weeks after they've completed a full biopsy on the tonsil and know the outcome. If it's malignant, it's likely he'll get radiation in the area to ensure they've killed any cells left behind after the tonsillectomy.

Now Josh is resting in a hotel near the hospital to give him a day to get the anethesia out of his system. We'll head back home tomorrow.