The right maxillary sinus area can be found by putting a finger in your mouth and touching the top right back of your teeth – just above the palate adjacent to these back teeth, is your maxillary sinus. The tumor had grown around the bone above the teeth and was protruding through the palate.
One should not underestimate cancer and always be aware of the need to make good decisions quickly. To put things in perspective, when the tumor was discovered on February 19th it was a small bump on Nick’s palate. At the time of surgery, March 4th, it had grown by an estimated 30%.
The process of getting as much of the tumor as possible involves sending slides off to pathology of the surrounding areas to determine how much to remove. It is mind boggling to think that surgeons have the ability to access the tumor through a small opening in the roof of Nick’ mouth, remove the tumor and take small slices of tissue from around the tumor location, send it off to pathology to determine if they removed it all. This is where the skill set and experience of the surgeon you choose is critical (shop around for the best Dr. you can find). Dr. Peter Koltai did an amazing job and we think did as much as possible to get all of the tumor. Overall, what is left of the tumor will be treated with radiation therapy.