Gearing Up for Round Two
We're both pretty nervous about this next surgery.
Like last time, the risks are small. But they're different:
There's a 1-2% risk of injury to the nerve that controls Enrique's shoulder. That could leave him with a weak shoulder and/or a clavicle that juts out of his back.
I think he's more worried about the aesthetics of something jutting out than having a weak shoulder. Fair enough.
The larger concern is that they may need to call in a thoracic surgeon, if there's a lymph node in his chest that needs to come out.
That would require cutting into his chest with a saw -- and, of course, a much bigger scar and longer recovery.
They'll make that decision in the middle of the surgery, with no input from him (or from us, I imagine).
Happily there's only a 10% chance of that being necessary. It's still a difficult image for us to get out of our heads.
Like last time, the risks are small. But they're different:
There's a 1-2% risk of injury to the nerve that controls Enrique's shoulder. That could leave him with a weak shoulder and/or a clavicle that juts out of his back.
I think he's more worried about the aesthetics of something jutting out than having a weak shoulder. Fair enough.
The larger concern is that they may need to call in a thoracic surgeon, if there's a lymph node in his chest that needs to come out.
That would require cutting into his chest with a saw -- and, of course, a much bigger scar and longer recovery.
They'll make that decision in the middle of the surgery, with no input from him (or from us, I imagine).
Happily there's only a 10% chance of that being necessary. It's still a difficult image for us to get out of our heads.
posted by eliot at 3:35 PM
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