The Skinny on the Surgery

This morning Jeanette and I headed down to Toronto General Hospital for my pre-op assessment. After the usual blood taking, height checking, and weight weighing, a kindly nurse named Catherine Barrow walked us through what to expect with the surgery. Here are the highlights:

• The morning of, I'll be able to have a soft breakfast and juice -- just nothing after 8:30 AM.


• The procedure will be at TGH, not PMH.


• The surgery itself should take no more than 60 minutes, during which my groupies can chill in the green room


• After, I'll be spending the night in the hospital so they can watch for swelling and keep me hooked up to fluids and painkillers.


• Once I can manage to drink on my own, they'll send me home with oral painkillers.

We also received a patient information booklet with all sorts of handy information, from where to park to what to wear. It's like having my very own life coach! Okay, not really.

Thanks again to everyone for all the supportive comments and e-mails. I hope everyone has a very merry holidays and a Happy New Year!

Book Him, Danno!

A new phone message from Dr. Irish's office today: My surgery is booked for Monday, January 15, 2007. The surgery will be at Princess Margaret Hospital at 1:30 PM. I am to report to the nursing station on the 18th floor by 11:30 AM that morning and I am not to have anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before. I'll probably still be full from all the Christmas eating anyway.

Covert Ops

I was surprised last night to come home to a voice mail from Toronto General Hospital. It seems I have a "pre-op" appointment the morning of Friday, December 22. Pre-op? But when is the op? Is it a secret?

I've since talked with Barbara, the booking nurse at Dr. Irish's office. The surgery will be in January but is still not yet booked. She expects to get some available dates from Dr. Irish next week.

I've also spoken with Rose at the admissions desk at Toronto General. The pre-op appointment will mostly be an information session about preparing for the surgery and aftercare. I'll also sign the usual consent forms and likely have some blood taken. It shouldn't take more than two hours.

Surgery Rescheduled; Christmas Back On

I've just phoned Dr. Irish's office and they are fine to re-schedule the surgery for after Christmas. Phew! They will call me back when a new date is booked.

The Roller Coaster Continues

Roller coaster up: This morning I had a very brief follow-up appointment with dentist Dr. Lee. She once again offered interesting details I hadn't heard before. According to Dr. Lee, the surgeon will send the excised tissue for a pathology while I'm still on the surgical table. The pathology results will tell the surgical team whether they can stitch me up or do a little more trimming. Kind of like pausing during a haircut to see how it looks. Okay, maybe not like that at all.

This afternoon I left work early to get a flu shot from my family doctor. After the shot, Dr. Gallimore and I chatted about how puzzling it is for me to have tongue cancer -- he's only seen it in three of his patients in his twenty-plus years of practice, and they were all smokers over the age of fifty. You'd think I'd sound more like Leonard Cohen if I had the tongue of a fifty-year-old smoker.

Roller coaster down: I arrived home to find a message on my machine from Dr. Irish's office: the surgery is booked for Dec. 20! Just when I was delighting in being of sound tongue for Christmas! I plan to call in the morning and beg them to delay by at least a week.

Roller coaster up: Meanwhile, I continue to try and make the most of my December. In that spirit, I'll be performing with the improv comedy troupe The Blue Margarets on Saturday night at The Charlotte Room here in Toronto. Come on out for some laughs and witness my quick tongue while you can. Send me an e-mail if you're interested but can't make out the details on the tiny poster below.

Mmmm, That's Good Health Cake

Thursday night we had an impromptu celebration here at the Wichman-Williamson pad. My sister is in town from Halifax, and joined my mom, grandmother, aunt, and uncle for dinner. Dessert, courtesy of Linda and Steve, was a deliciously creamy chocolate cake. Here's to keeping my taste buds through the holidays!