Surgery was performed on my right cheek by Dr. S, and over the weekend a few days after surgery, a wound developed due to past radiation. On the following Monday morning, I called MD Anderson to discuss the issue and I was transferred to Dr. S's clinic. Dr. S's nurse Meera Kapoor answered the call and I explained my situation. After describing my issue, Meera asked me how long it would take for me to get there. I told her ten minutes and she said that she would be waiting for me.
When I checked in at the clinic, Meera immediately came into the lobby and took me to a clinical room and began cleaning the wound. After thoroughly cleaning the wound she dressed it and made an appointment on Wednesday for a follow up with Dr. S. Dr. S checked the wound and indicated that he felt that if it was cleaned and medicated daily that it would heal and that he would like to see me again in a month. Meera said that she would like to see me weekly to monitor the healing progress and Dr. S agreed. After Dr. S left the room, I asked Meera how I could expedite getting my calls to her and she gave me her direct phone number.
When I left that day, I felt that God had designated Meera as my Guardian Angel. I followed up weekly for several months with Meera as the wound went through the various stages of healing until the wound healed. As I progressed through the summer, I felt that the cancer was returning, and I called Meera and she was able to expeditiously get me an appointment with Dr. S, where a biopsy verified that cancer had returned and that further surgery would be needed.
I had further surgery where a feeding tube was put in my sinus to keep infection from my mouth. Five weeks after surgery, the feeding tube was removed from my sinus and I was asked to start eating. It was difficult to eat as the surgery had tightened my capability to open my mouth and previous radiation had restricted my ability to swallow but I tried to regain my ability to eat. As I moved forward, I had weekly appointments scheduled for wound care as a wound had developed and during one of my appointments, Meera asked me what I was eating and how often.
Meera saw that the wound was not healing; I looked pale and I was losing weight. She immediately got on the phone to Dr. S, my nutritionist, and my speech therapist to get a consensus that I was not getting an adequate amount of nutrition to heal and get back to normal. Two days later I had a feeding tube put into my stomach. Upon getting the feeding tube put in I began to feel stronger, my color improved, and my wounds began healing, and I began to gain weight. Today all of my wounds are healed, and I am back to my weight prior to surgery. I do not know where I would be if it were not for the compassion and intuition of Meera Kapoor and all of the team that Dr. S has assembled.