Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss JWHAP needs a special hug

and JHAP too.

in a nutshell, ricki is dealing with skin cancer on one of her ears. when she went in for surgery, doctors found it worse than originally thought.

couple days ago i asked jeff permission to post here which he granted. they are pretty stressed out right now. we have all needed and drawn on the support and brotherhood of this forum as jeff mentioned at the top of his five years ago today thread, and its time again to help our fellow pondbossers.

for some details, jeff sent me the following update:

"Ricki found a spot on her ear a couple years ago. We went to our family doctor and he burned it off and said it was nothing to worry about. A few months later Ricki found a spot underneath her eye. The family doctor looked at the spot under her eye and decided we need a referral to a cancer specialist. The cancer specialist removed and biopsied the spot under her eye and then noticed the spot on her ear (which had grown back in the interim) the cancer specialist was concerned more about the spot on Ricki's ear and recommended that we have the ear biopsied. Our family doctored refused to approve the biopsy and prescribed a cream to treat the spot. The cream didn't work and we decided to change medical groups.

On August 1st we went to a cancer specialist, the specialist told us based upon a visual inspection that the spot on Ricki's ear (which was now a large spot that covered almost half her upper ear) was a form of cancer and he biopsied it so we would know what we were dealing with. At the time of this initial appointment the cancer specialist told us that fortunately it did not look like the cancer effected any of the structure of the ear (the cartilage appeared to be intact). The doctor told us he would remove the skin from about 1/2 of her ear and then will graph a piece of skin from her upper chest to cover her ear.

On Friday, August 5th we received the results of the biopsy. It turned out to be Squamous Cell Carcinoma and the cancer specialist immediately set an appointment for last Wednesday to have spot removed. Under normal circumstances Squamous Cell Carcinoma isn't too bad as long as it has not gone untreated very long and as long as it was confined to one area. Unfortunately Ricki's cancer had remained misdiagnosed and not properly treated and now had spread further than expected. What was supposed to be a two hour procedure lasted six hours. The doctor had to remove cartilage from Ricki's ear. Also they were not able to perform the skin graft due to the removal of ear structure. The doctor also found a spot on Ricki's arm and one on her leg that is presenting like cancer and he is going to biopsy as well. Next Friday we go back for a follow up visit to discuss options."

so please gather your kindred pondboss spirits and send hugs, good thoughts, and prayers towards my dear friends ricki and jeff.

oh, i reckon its a good time to say that if you've been putting off having those spots checked out, dont delay. i have had two of those damn things on the top of my bald head, and freezing didnt work on them, they had to come out by scalpel. they were basal cell carcinomas, the least harmful kind, but they can turn into other types. skin cancer is insidious stuff.

thanks in advance everyone, and to ricki (and jeff), from jean and i, great big hugs and prayers already on their way, we surely hope you are back to 110% soon.

died

Prayers for Ricki.

I've been there.

I'll start praying right away!!

Hearts, prayers and love are pouring out from myself and Cathy. We also know full well the power of prayer and the comfort our PB bretheran provided us in the past. Neither of us would be alive today without help from above and our family here!

Ricki, we already know you are an incredibly strong woman to tame a wild man like Jeff with such ease. He obviosly loves you..so do we!

We've got both your your backs! As always, just ask if anything at all is ever needed!

Rex, Cathy and family

Thoughts, prayers and a big hug from the Midwest.

Gail and I are at the prayer command center. You can count on us.

On it.

In our thoughts and prayers. How about some cards ?

You got it... Best of luck...Words of encouragement.. I had this done two years ago on six locations on my back and shoulders... Got a clean bill at this years checkup.

Sorry to hear that Jeff. I hope all will change for the best soon. Our thoughts are with you all!!

Heartfelt prayers sent Rikki and Jeff.

I know all too well about misdiagnosed cancer, and have heard the "nothing to worry about" line. They were dead wrong!

Prayers from Michigan to Rikki and Jeff.

Best wishes from mid-GA. Please keep us updated.

Ricki we are prayign here too. You are one sweet lady and since having to put up with Jeff tough too so your going to get through this.

Thoughts and prayers, Ricki and Jeff.

Our best wishes and prayers go with you Rikki and Jeff.

Wow, what a shocker to come back to. Jeff, Ricki, you guys are included in my prayer list. God bless and strengthen you both as you fight this fight.

Thank you for the kind thoughts and prayers, we both really appreciate it. Friday is when we find out how to proceed from here. Reconstructive surgery will be scheduled as well as biopsies on the two additional spots.

JWHAP is holding up as well, her resilience and patience have greatly improved by being married to me, mainly by being tried so many times via my antics. We're striving to remain upbeat and keep humor in our lives.

We sincerely appreciate all of the prayers and kind thoughts from all of our friends here.

I'll let you know what we find out on Friday.

Thank you Dave for posting this, you're a good friend in spite of the fact that you force me to eat Brussels Sprouts.

yeah but with balsalmic vinegar........and bacon.....

Jeff, belated prayers sent for you and Ricki!

Bacon and BS prouts. Yuck!!

Sick is what that is, SICK!

Debbie and I love both of you guys!
Prayers from here, too.

Special thoughts and prayers to Ricki and her roomate. Both of you - Hang Tough. Life can pitch some nasty curve balls.

prayers sent