LaMar Johnson

To say my day didn't go as I had planned is a bit of an understatement.   


On Thursday, 5/11/17, I had an appointment with Dr. Emre Vural at UAMS because I had a small lump on my left jaw.  I fully expected to be told it was really nothing to worry about and to go back to work.   I had a test to take and wanted to get in as much study time as possible, so I told Wayne not to worry about coming with me to the appointment.  Besides, he had gotten up at 5:00am every morning that week so far and he should enjoy sleeping in that morning.  
  
Unfortunately, Dr. Vural  informed me that the lump was a tumor in my left salivary gland and that the biopsies performed showed it to be cancer (adenoid cystic carcinoma) and that I would have to have surgery to remove it.   Dang, I wish I had let Wayne come with me....  Dr Vural explained the process to me.  I asked some questions and he answered them.  I cracked some jokes (coping mechanism, anyone?) and he smiled politely.   Afterwards, his nurse gave me a list of things to do that day, because "surgery is this coming Monday."  Wait... what?  Yes, that's right.  My surgery was scheduled the following Monday, 5/15/17.  

At this point, I do not know what the care plan will be going forward after surgery.  The doctors will examine the tumor once it has been removed to determine if I have to have chemo and/or radiation.

I created this CaringBridge website as a quick and easy way for Wayne to keep family and friends updated in one place.  We all know that Wayne is a man of few words, and I don't want him to be overwhelmed with trying to answer calls and messages and with remembering who he has and hasn't contacted.   With this site, he can just post the update here in the journal and you can check back to get that information.   We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.  They are going to be very important to us over the coming weeks.  Thank you for visiting.