Jared is having surgery early tomorrow morning (at 7:15 am) to remove a very large branchial cleft cyst from his neck. Here's a definition for those with inquiring minds (like me):
Branchial cleft cysts form during development of the embryo. They occur when tissues in the neck and collarbone area (branchial cleft) fail to develop normally.
The birth defect may appear as open spaces called cleft sinuses, which may develop on one or both sides of the neck. A branchial cleft cyst may form from fluid drained from a sinus. The cyst or sinus can become infected.
This suddenly appeared 2 weeks ago and was quite a surprise, especially to find out it's a congenital condition he's had since before he was born. It has kept growing and is now quite huge. I took pictures of it yesterday after his appointment with the ENT doctor (see above). Yet the pictures fail to grasp the enormity of it. I think it looks like he has a small grapefruit crammed inside his neck between his jaw and collarbone. It was not painful when it first appeared, but since it has grown bigger it is causing pain in other areas (back, neck, headaches, etc). Fortunately, it has not become infected. They need to remove it ASAP before it becomes infected, at which time they would then need to treat it with antibiotic until it cleared before they could do surgery. The surgery is a little complicated just because of where it is located (next to the jugular and carotid artery). The surgeon said he has to dissect the cyst from these important structures in the neck. If all goes well and there's no problems, he will be going home after he surgery instead of having to stay at the hospital.
We'd appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts at this time. Please pray for the surgeon and the rest of the medical team to easily remove the cyst without any complications. And pray for a quick and easy recovery. Jared is starting school at Eastern Michigan University full-time starting MONDAY (just 4 days post-op)!!!! Since he hasn't been able to find a new job since losing his in December, we decided he needed to get back to school and finish his degree. By completing an intense schedule of courses over the next year, he will be able to finish his Bachelor's degree in Technology Management by the end of June next year. I just hope this "little medical issue" doesn't cause too much of a distraction to him getting a good start back in school.
We'd appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts at this time. Please pray for the surgeon and the rest of the medical team to easily remove the cyst without any complications. And pray for a quick and easy recovery. Jared is starting school at Eastern Michigan University full-time starting MONDAY (just 4 days post-op)!!!! Since he hasn't been able to find a new job since losing his in December, we decided he needed to get back to school and finish his degree. By completing an intense schedule of courses over the next year, he will be able to finish his Bachelor's degree in Technology Management by the end of June next year. I just hope this "little medical issue" doesn't cause too much of a distraction to him getting a good start back in school.
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