This is not totally bad news and I’d hate anyone to think that they will be like me. I belong to a subset of HNC patients who get repeated primaries. I know hardly anyone who belongs to my category.

First of all I had the long trip to Middlemore yesterday to have my dental plate adjusted. It was uncomfortable, hard to talk in and I wanted to see Simon about the cancer diagnosis I had just received. Would dental restoration continue in that light?

Surgeon Nick had rung on Friday to say that there was a little cancer in an irritated patch inside my right cheek which he had biopsied when checking on the results of my CT scan. It had NOT showed up on the scan.

I had number-one son booked to take me to the appointment with the surgeon today for moral support and to be my recorder of info. He couldn’t come yesterday on the 56.6 k trip to Middlemore and I had approval from MM to cancer the appointment if I didn’t feel safe in the arms of Cyclone Gabrielle.

I had a fabulous trip to Middlemore! All the usual bottlenecks like Hibiscus Coast Highway, Silverdale to Albany and Greville to Sunnynook were unplugged and looked like Level 3 lockdown or better. My little Mazda Demio felt the sideways shunt of the wind only once.

What’s more, Simon the prostho was very understanding and reassuring and said yes, he just continued with his work when someone had a recurrence. He tarted up my plate and I practised talking to him and Lucia with it. I sounded a bit better. I can’t say “wall” though. Have to spell it out.

Today’s appointment at Auckland City Hospital was MUCH better than the phone call I got last week telling me about the biospy finding. My surgeon is a lovely man and one of the most experienced in the business. Yes, he could whip out my tiny tumour on the spot under local but it would leave a raw patch, be uncomfortable and take a while to heal. If he cut a five cent coin sized patch out of my inner cheek and covered it with a patch of skin from my arm or clavicle, there would probably be a better outcome. (It might be 10 cents in size. I’m hopeless with measurements.)

So I go in on March 15 and have the op done under local and sedation, with an overnight stay and an ng tube put in for me to feed myself through the nose until the patch heals.

I’d give myself 10 days to heal.

I’m an old car with a strong engine but patches of rust that have to be cut out from time to time. One day I’ll lose my warrant of fitness but I’m glad that won’t happen just yet.