Surgery.

Well, it has been a long day. Honestly it's been a long weekend since I first started having concerns Saturday afternoon. I'm not sure I really have slept much and the emotions have torn into me.

The good news is that Rebekah needs some pretty major oral surgery. Yes, you heard me right, that is the good news. There is something wrong in our family's lives that we often find ourselves hoping for something that would be a major disaster to some others. Praying for an infection, praying for MS, etc. Obviously this is the good news because it means that the swelling we are seeing is probably not cancer. There are no guarantees, but according to the dentist the oral problems could account for the danger signs we have been seeing.

Basically all of Rebekah's adult teeth are there, still up in the gums, but have been destroyed by the radiation. As they start to move, if they start to move, they are not in line and generally not well. Rebekah had an adult molar pop through on the left side. It had no enamel on it and a large hole down the center. A large hole into her body. A large hole that carried infection into that area. We don't know why her body showed no other sign of infection (fevers, rashes, redness in the area etc.)

So yes, this molar needs to come out. She is on some pretty heavy antibiotics and we will have surgery in two weeks. Surgery is a full on hospital anesthesia. The dentist, the orthodontist, the oral surgeon, the pediatricians and the oncologists all have to consult on this with it being likely the first three will be doing the surgery. At this point the surgery is set but exactly what will be done beyond removing the offending molar is not known. Lots of smart people have to come up with a treatment plan to artificially replace what we have destroyed.

And then there is the possibility (likelihood?) that Rebekah's jaw itself won't take the work necessary to get the tooth out and will fracture - but that is for another post.

For now I am beat; emotionally and physically beat. Good night.