MUSC

You want to know one of the great things about Summerville?  It's close to many hospital systems, including MUSC.  Just up the road at Carnes Crossing are even more medical facilities coming in.  I, for one, though am happy that we are close to MUSC.  I just spent 8 days there after having found squamos cell cancer for the 2nd time in my left ear. The first time it was a relatively minor surgery but after it returned with a vengeance the second time it got a bit more involved.  I usually joke my middle name is Murphy, short for Murphy's Law because whatever seemingly can go wrong will.  In 2008 I underwent a double lung transplant and have been on immunosuppressant drugs ever since.  These medications cause my immune system to be squashed so I am susceptible to pretty much anything and everything under the sun, including cancer.  To fix my 2nd bout of cancer the docs at the Head and Neck Department at MUSC decided to take a large skin graft out of my right leg and use that tissue to fill in the gap they cut out from my ear and neck.  In order to have the best chance at beating this cancer they removed my entire ear canal, the lower 1/2 of my ear, bone in and around my ear, salivary glands, lymph nodes and other glands.  They then took my leg tissue and blood supply and filled in the gaps around the ear so right now I look and sounds like a mess.  Of course there were complications so I ended up being intubated (tube down my throat breathing for me) for 5 days which meant I was in the ICU for 5 days also.  This caused all kinds of throat and vocal cord damage so as I type this I cannot speak above a whisper and can only swallow soft foods.  There's a lot more to this story but let's all be glad we are close to a top-rated hospital system that has the docs and means to treat just about anything.

A huge thanks to all my docs, surgeons and wonderful nurses that cared for me during my tenure in the hospital. The staff was great and I appreciate all of them!

-Jason