Ryan had his surgery at 9AM this morning.. still feel like I’m in a huge “unknown” bubble. The bone was taken; and soft tissue surrounding it was involved too. The tumor was surrounding his PIN nerve compressing it completely. By this morning none of Ryan’s fingers would move on his right hand. Surgeon reports that this COULD be permanent or on the brighter side it will come back in hopefully 4-6 weeks. Kind of a wait and watch situation. With Ryan being a guitarist this is devastating.. long and incomplete story short. 95% of the melanoma in this area was taken out. He left 5% of the tumor because melanoma had sunk its tentacles in the nerve. To remove it all would involve cutting the nerve causing practically paralyzation of the arm as a whole. So now - eyes are on a tweaked systemic treatment. I would love to discuss re challenging BRAF therapies. TIL is still up my sleeve.. a clinical trial is in the oncologists pocket. Ahh. A lot of emotions. I will keep updated as I continue to put some puzzle pieces together over the next several days. Pathology will come back and then we will have the mutation and markers test done as well. See what we are working with...
Much love my friends..
xoxo
Written by
kellyOd
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Kelly, I’m so glad to hear that Ryan’s surgery is over and now he will no on to healing. I am sending lots of prayers that he regains the use of his fingers. I can only imagine how hard that is going to be waiting and watching. You are not warriors, and I am in awe of how much Ryan has gone through with you fighting by his side all the way. Blessings.
Lol, my typing is aweful. That is supposed to say “he will MOVE on to healing”, and then also it’s supposed to say “You ARE warriors”…. Sorry ‘bout that. Many Blessings
I always try to look at the positives first. Some of those positives : surgery was an option and most of the tumor was removable , his pain should be improved once he recovers from the surgery . Most important : he has you and you have each other and you have a medical team that really cares and keeps searching for the solution.
I will be sending all positive thoughts and prayers that he will heal quickly and be able play the guitar soon! I know how important his music is to him.
Thank you for reminding me of this... it’s hard sometimes to see the positive. Gratitude is so important ❤️ We will take all the hugs and prayers we can get!! Wedding is soon!
He got surgery Friday - and as of today his pain is more manageable then it has been in a long time. His arm is very stiff and mummy wrapped. Definitely swollen still. I will try and attach a photo - hopefully you can see it. But for now he is not attempting to bend it at all. The physicians assistant stated there is no need for physical therapy which I find hard to believe. Fingers are still unable to flex upward. He can squeeze, but no extension. With it only being days out we are hopeful he will regain some of this in time. Let me know if you see the picture! - also we are on the horn to oncology about next steps treatment wise. I just got done cruising through clinical trials available right now. Always forward thinking.
Kelly, Ryan is on the mend I pray. Your intuition is correct: insist on physical therapy. That's just the PAs opinion, not the end all. My best to you both.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Brother with stage 3 melanoma 
My daughter has passed
