Ameloblastoma Post Op Recovery

24.09.12 09:32 AM By Jim James

This visit has been something of a rollercoaster, but I am feeling very confident about the approach that Dr Ho and I have taken to overcome my case of Ameloblastoma. The sight of the two lumps found by the scan on my jaw on Tuesday had left me directionless; a feeling that I am unfamiliar with and found completely disarming. I focused on going from point to point and accomplishing basic tasks in readiness for the surgery.  I told the anesthetist, a kindly aunt like figure in her late 50's called Monica, that on my way home after the last operation I had vomited blood which wasn't entirely pleasant, and that I had been dizzy - this time she gave me insulin pre-0p.  The Wed surgery was a bit of a blur. The  good news was that I wasn't sick and felt well enough to let Melinda, a colleague at EASTWEST who kindly came to collect me from the hospital, go back to her home without having to nurse me. Post operation I was confronting myself to regain a sense of motivation to beat this thing. It is strange to have a complete lack of vision beyond the immediate daily tasks. One anonymous Amelo blogger I read wrote about 'regaining a sense of direction.' Feeling 'out of control' is very new to me and perhaps one of the least attractive aspects of an illness like this which arrives unexpectedly and changes the course of life. Then on Friday I was given great news by Dr Ho Kee Hai via the histology report sent from the Parkway Laboratory services. James Adrian Jim. parkway The items found in my jaw were 'acute inflammatory granulation tissue with foreign body giant cell response to pigmented non-polarizable foreign bodies. No epithelium is present here. No features to suggest ameloblastoma seen.' According to wikipedia, 'Granulation tissue is the  perfused, fibrous connective tissue that replaces a  fibrin clot in  healing wounds. Granulation tissue typically grows from the base of a wound and is able to fill wounds of almost any size it heals.' In other words my understanding is that these two pieces found are part of the recuperative process that my body is attempting to heal my wound.  Truly we witness a miracle of regeneration when we see our bodies work. I had read that our bones have 3 phases of regeneration, and these tissues are part of that second phase - a kind of scaffolding being built around the newly built facade of bone. It is hard to describe the relief that I felt at these few simple words. It doesn't of course mean that the ameloblastoma is defeated entirely, but our approach is working together with my immune system. I still have the structure of my mandible, and nervous system.  I still stand by the treatment Dr Ho and I have adopted. This latest report and images post operation demonstrate that our faith is being rewarded. As the images show below, the bone structure is recovering well, the bruising is receding, and with a week of stubble covering the area Amity and Halo won't even notice the slight residual swelling. In another 4 weeks (late Oct) I will have another scan here in Singapore - but at least I know more now about what to expect. Next week I will have another course of acupuncture with Alex Tan which I found stabilized the pain in the nerves in my jaw, and proceed with his proscription of balancing the Qi in my system to ensure the bone reconstruction continues apace.

Jim James