65GS.com - Buick Gran Sport Enthusiasts!
General Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: elagache on December 23, 2022, 01:49:08 PM
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Dear 65GS.com faithful,
Well here we are, two days before Christmas. With all that was going on, I hadn't planned on making a Biquette card. However, in mid-November I reconsidered. While going through old photos of Biquette I ended up finding a sequence that captured my year and what I was feeling at the time:
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Biquette/Photos-of-Biquette/2022-Christmas-card/i-fWsvrH4/0/38883376/L/2022%20card%20scanned%20image-L.jpg) (https://canebas.smugmug.com/Biquette/Photos-of-Biquette/2022-Christmas-card/i-fWsvrH4/A)
It is very hard to describe the experience of the facial surgeries that I have gone though. Beyond the suffering and misery is the feeling of violation: Will I ever feel like a normal human being again?
Nonetheless, this story may yet have a happy ending. After struggling with breathing throughout this year-long ordeal, I had a 7th surgery on my nose last Friday (December 16th.) This surgery worked on both sides of my nose at once. The skin graft on the left side was thinned to open up the nostril on that side. There was some scar tissue on the right side that was acting as a valve flap which was removed at the same time.
The surgery itself was hard and the first few days were difficult. However this past Wednesday, I had the stitches removed. At the same time, stints that were inserted to support the each nostril while they were healing were also removed. All of a sudden I could breathe again! I have to be careful to make sure no new scar tissue is formed that would block the nostrils once more. However 7 days after the surgery, it is looking like the end of the this ordeal might be finally within reach!
Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers during this very long year!
Edouard
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Thanks, Edouard, for the Christmas greetings and the update. SO HAPPY to hear about success in the last surgery. I can only imagine how good it feels to be able to breathe again after such a long period of difficulty. Considering this success, is this perhaps the final surgery? What a celebration that would be!
Happy that you have much to be thankful for this Christmas. I pray that the new year will continue your path to full recovery!
Merry Christmas!
Chuck
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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone chilling out here 3 ft snow drifts and 20-30 mph winds between me and the shop nicer out next week.Jim
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Merry Christmas and thank you for the good news!
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So happy for you. Looking forward to your posts on how you and Biquette are once again enjoying time together.
Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. :cheers2:
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hope next year is better than the last. Make everyday count!
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Dear Chuck, Jim, Jim, Jim (in triplicate even! :laughing7:), Don, and mid-60s Buick caregivers you occasionally need some care of their own!
Thanks everyone for your continued well wishes!
Thanks, Edouard, for the Christmas greetings and the update. SO HAPPY to hear about success in the last surgery. I can only imagine how good it feels to be able to breathe again after such a long period of difficulty. Considering this success, is this perhaps the final surgery? What a celebration that would be!
Yes, that would appear to be the 64 dollar question and the answer is . . . . . . it depends!
As I have learned the hard way, plastic surgery is anything but an exact science. The nose isn't the worst place to have facial surgery, but it is still a very difficult area for surgeons to work on. During the consultation which led to this last surgery, my plastic/reconstructive surgeon hinted that perhaps one more surgery might still be needed after this one. Why he thought this he didn't explain. But in his many years of experience, he saw something which led him to that suspicion.
I don't see this as a negative. He is determined to make thing right and he has the skills and experience to get the job done. I have no doubt he tried to resolve everything in this surgery and hopefully he did succeed. At this point I need to allow my nose to heal and once more recover from the swelling caused by the surgery. Hopefully indeed that will resolve everything. If not, I'm very thankful that my surgeon won't abandon me in a state that leaves me miserable for the rest of my life. By my thinking it is a win-win!
So, . . . . . . stay tuned! (https://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/tune_in_TV_emoticon.gif)
Thanks again!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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Edouard, great to hear that you are breathing better. I would say that a good uplifting Christmas gift for you would be to get in your Buick and take a well deserved ride around your area. It would be good for you & the Buick !!
Tony :sunny:
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Edouard, that is great news ! So glad you are breathing better. Hope it lasts. MERRY CHRISTMAS.
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Edouard,
Please give us a update on your progress. I hope everything is getting better.
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Edouard, Yes please keep us updated. Spring is here and the weather will be getting warm. More of a reason to get out and take that Buick for a ride and enjoy Mother Nature at its best. If you need us we are just a click away.... :thumbsup:
Tony,Karen
Nina, Michael
Steven, James
& Iris the cat.
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Dear Jim, Tony, and 65GS.com community,
Please give us a update on your progress. I hope everything is getting better.
I wish I could report otherwise, but I'm still have considerable difficulty breathing through my nose. It did appear to be getting worse even. Back on March 1st, I sent to see the reconstructive surgeon because I was still bringing up bits of blood from my nose. Sadly, the scar tissue that was removed in the surgery of December 16th had reformed because the stint in the right nostril was removed too early. So that is the explanation for the worsening breathing on that side. The skin graft on the left side continues to be very restrictive.
So in a clear about face, the surgeon decided to try one more time to improve my breathing in both nostrils. However, his success has resulted in him being seriously backlogged. The earliest surgery date that was available was April 21st. I still don't have many details, but I'm sure things will get clarified as the time approaches.
Of course I'm not very happy about this, but I really have no choice. I simply cannot breath very well at this point and I'm putting saline almost hourly to keep my nostrils open. I really need to at least get the right nostril working more normally.
Sorry, but that's the latest news.
Edouard
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Thank you for the update, we are all concerned for your health. I hope the April surgery turns out better than expected, you deserve a break on this.
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Amen, you definitely need some relief, comfort and satisfaction. We all hope and pray that the next surgery will be the last. May it be so this time!
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Gotta be light at the end of that tunnel .luck .jim
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Hoping and praying that the next surgery is the last and that you have a speedy and complete recovery.
Kurt
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Thanks everyone for your prayers and support.
I'm definitely hoping this will be the last surgery too!
Edouard
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Dear 65GS.com community,
Time has passed by and tomorrow is April 21st - the day of my next nose surgery. I would appreciate if you could keep me in my thoughts and prayers. It has been a long hard road and I am getting tired of this routine.
Thanks for your support.
Edouard
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Hoping all goes well. you are definitely in my prayers.
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Edouard, My Family is sending out our prayers to you. May the operation be a success and you recover quickly :sunny:
Tony
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I hope and pray this will be your final surgery and that your recovery is excellent. :icon_thumright:
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Thoughts and prayers for an excellent and final surgery with a speedy recovery.
Kurt
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Thoughts and prayers for the best possible outcome Edouard.
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Hope all go's well keep your spirts up .jim
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Continued prayers for you Edouard. God's blessings for a successful surgery and recovery.
Loren
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Amen! Be blessed with a successful and final result!
Chuck
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Dear Dan, Tony, Jim, Kurt, Jim, Jim, Loren, Chuck, and 65GS.com community,
Thanks for the prayers and good wishes. This surgery went considerably better than the December one. No problems with nausea from the anesthesia and last night wasn't as tough as the first night after the December surgery. The plastic surgeon succeeded in opening up left nostril where the skin graft is. That turns out to be especially appreciated since he had to block the right nostril in order make sure the scar tissue that he removed doesn't form once more.
All in all, I'm in as good a shape as can be expected from this sort of surgery. The situation looks promising after a day. It is hopefully onward and upward from here.
Thanks for your support!
Edouard
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Onward and upward, indeed! Good to hear a positive result (finally!). Sure hope this gets you to where you want and need to be!
:cheers2:
Chuck
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Great news! Hope the rest of your recovery goes well.
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Great to hear it?s so far so good!
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Great news, You are on the road to recovery !
Tony
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Promising news, prayers for a speedy recover
Loren
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Thanks everyone for the prayers and good wishes!
I'm back on the saline spray and frozen pea ice packs. It is time to allow the nose to heal once more!
Thanks again,
Edouard
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Hi Edouard,
Sending support and best wishes from Queensland, Australia.
You have had a tough journey. I'm hoping as I type this note, you no longer require the frozen peas and recovering quickly.
I can't wait to read about the next adventure in your Trusty Wagon.
Regards
Marcus
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Dear 65GS.com community,
Alas, I am continuing to have health misfortunes. In mid-April, I was diagnosed with a hernia. It was not too serious, so I couldn't get an appointment with the surgeon until mid-May. However before I could schedule that surgery, a routine skin check turned up a melanoma tumor on my left ear. A melanoma had been removed from that ear in 2021, so the concern is that the melanoma had come back and may have spread. That triggered a more aggressive response. I was sent to an oncologist and surgeon of the head and neck. He will remove the new tumor on my ear, but he will also do what is called a nodal biopsy. To do this, they will inject a radioactive tracer in the area of the tumor the day before. That tracer will be carried to lymph node in my neck where any cancer would have spread. The surgeon will remove that node identified by the tracer and have it checked for melanoma. If there isn't any cancer in the lymph node, hopefully they will have solved the problem. If there is, then more cancer treatments will be necessary.
The surgery is this Friday the 16th, so I would appreciate if folks could keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
Thanks for your support,
Edouard
P.S. Somehow the hernia will have to be repaired sometime after that.
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Hi Edouard,
Sorry to hear about your health issues. Will be praying for you this Friday.
Warmest regards,
Kurt
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So, so sorry for you having to go through more treatments. I will continue to keep you in my prayers.
Prayers that it has not spread. It's bad enough to relapse and have to go through more treatment without the fears of spreading.
Loren
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Sorry to hear you have more health hurdles, hope the surgery is a success.
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Continuing to pray for you, Edouard. Your medical journey over the last year or two has been extreme. May you be at peace as you enter another round of uncertainty. And may you be cancer-free after the coming surgery. Heal well!
Best regards,
Chuck
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Dear Kurt, Loren, Jim, Chuck, and 65GS.com community,
Thank you for kind thoughts and prayers.
I got cleared for the surgery by a cardiologist this morning. They will inject the radioactive tracer this afternoon. The surgery is tomorrow morning early. Since I've never had a procedure like this, I'm not sure what to expect. We shall see . . . . .
Thanks again,
Edouard
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Dear 65GS.com community
I got home from the surgery center about 2 hours ago. The doctor thought the procedure went well and he thought he did a good job reconstructing that ear. It has been already damaged by removing the first melanoma and a basal cell tumor back in the autumn of 2021. I hope he actually made some improvements over what it looked like before.
So it is time to recover and wait for the biopsy results next week.
Thanks again for your prayers and good wishes,
Edouard
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Happy to hear that it went well. Waiting for results is always so hard of a time. Prayers that biopsy results are negative, and you heal well and quickly.
Loren
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Amen to Loren's response. Heal well!
Chuck
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Dear 65GS.com community,
I had a one week follow-up appointment with the doctor who removed my melanoma from my left ear. The news is mostly good, but not quite. Most importantly, the cancer had not spread into my lymph system and he successfully removed the tumor from my ear with clear edges. However, the skin that he removed had some additional "noninvasive melanoma" spots on the tip of my ear. I didn't even know there was such a thing as "noninvasive melanoma" until this appointment. Apparently it is the very early start of melanoma before it can get harmful. As such it doesn't require a quick response. Alas, it still has to be removed and can only be removed by the same sort of surgery under general anesthesia. The doctor wants to wait a few months so the ear can get fully healed up. My ear is so badly damaged at this point that a skin graft may be needed to repair it for this subsequent surgery.
In the meantime, the doctor cleared me to go ahead the surgery to repair my hernia. It is scheduled for the second week of August. My poor body sure is being pushed very hard by all these surgeries. I sure hope these doctors know what they are doing, because I'm already feeling exhausted.
Still, I guess I cannot complain too much given how much worse things could have turned out. I'll hold the course and take the blows as they come.
Thanks for your support!
Edouard
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Edouard,
Your a fighter and we are all in your corner. Keep it up!
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Hang in there Edouard, good times will be coming!
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Keep the faith, Edouard. We pray that you'll be cancer-free and comfortable soon!
Chuck
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Keep up the fight, and one thing at a time...
Tony
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Edouard,
Your a fighter and we are all in your corner. Keep it up!
AMEN!
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Eduard, you are an inspiration for me. Keep up the fight.
Dan
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Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement!
I'll keep up the struggle! There has got to be a way out of this misery!
Thanks again,
Edouard
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Edouard,
I will be praying for you. Today is going to be a beautiful day in NorCal, hope you can get outside and enjoy it.
Kurt
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Thanks Kurt for your prayers!
Today is going to be a beautiful day in NorCal, hope you can get outside and enjoy it.
Alas, the one thing I need to be extremely careful about at this point is sun exposure. The areas that have been operated on cannot have sunscreen until they heal. I bought myself a wide-brim hat, but I really need to avoid the sun as much as possible.
Sadly, as a young man I made a camping trip to Pinnacles National Monument and spent two days hiking until I had blisters all over my toes. I believe I did use some sunscreen, but I neglected my ears and only had a baseball cap. I ended up burning both ears severely. I suspect it was that sunburn on my left ear that I am now paying for dearly.
These days I collect baseball caps, but I wear hats which protect my head and face much better!
Thanks again for your support!
Edouard
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May God lay his healing hands on you and help you through this!
Wishing you the best :sunny:
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Dear 65GS.com community,
July has come and past and the melanoma surgeon was pleased with how my ear healed from that surgery. The time has come to finally repair the hernia that was diagnosed all the way back at the beginning of May. That surgery is scheduled at 7am this upcoming Tuesday. The family health situation has further degraded so basically I had little choice but hire some home care giving services for all of next week. I've never had abdominal surgery before, but judging from the heavy-duty pain medications, it cannot be anything but a serious body-blow. Unfortunately, i haven't really recovered from the previous surgeries and am already feeling exhausted. Definitely not the best situation to be in before a major surgery like this.
So, I would like to ask you-all to keep me in your thoughts and prayers,
Thanks for your support!
Edouard
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You are definitely in our prayers, Edouard. I've had a hernia repair in the past and didn't think it was so bad. But I wasn't nearly as rundown as you are from the past months of continuous surgeries, both physically and mentally. I think the mental part is many times more challenging than the physical.
Keep the faith, hang in there, all the cliches and if you need more encouragement along the way, we'll be here to give you pep talks. We are not in your shoes but will support you any way we can!
God's blessings for comfort, peace and healing!
Chuck
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Hi ,all anyone can do one foot in front of the other looking for a better tomorrow,Good luck . Jim
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Hoping you will do fine. You have made it this far, continue being an inspiration for the rest of us.
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Thanks Chuck, Jim, and Dan,
I've prepared as best I can. The time has come to get on with this thing. We shall see!
Thanks again,
Edouard
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Dear 65GS.com community,
Thanks everyone for your concern and prayers. Yesterday's surgery went off without a hitch and I was home by 10am or so. There was some discomfort yesterday, but that has already calmed down. The prescribed pain medication is giving me some trouble with lightheadedness. However, I'm feeling almost no pain, so side-effect seems like a small price to pay.
We are lucky to have a caregiver assigned to us this week who is a nice and capable woman. So we seem to be in as good a shape as could be expected given the situation. I'll be taking it easy until the first part of next week. We will have groceries delivered this week and will have meals delivered from local restaurants until at least Thursday.
That's the situation after 24 hours. Thanks again.
Edouard
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Good news. :icon_thumright: Hope you recovery is smooth.
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Great news ! Hope the recovery goes well.
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Great news ! Hope the recovery goes well.
X2! Prayers continue for you, my friend.
Loren
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Great news Edouard! As I get older I meet the nicest people in operating rooms. Remember, turn into the skid and accelerate.
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Thanks for sharing this good news, Edouard! Hoping and praying that your recovery continues to go well!
Chuck
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Good news, I hope things continue to get better for you!
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Thanks everyone for your prayers and good wishes!
. . . As I get older I meet the nicest people in operating rooms.
I dunno' Kevin . . . You seem to be spending way too much time in operating rooms like me! . . . :laughing7:
Thanks again!
Edouard
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I'm glad that the operation went well and you are reaching out for assistance to help you and your family. We are praying for your speedy recovery.
Tony, Karen & Family :hello: :hello: :hello: :hello: