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Consultation with Dr. Ryan Goepfert January 7, 2026

I met with a very nice surgeon who is going to remove the lymph nodes in my neck. He seemed quite young, yet he had many of surgeries under his belt. He said my case was relatively rare, but not extremely rare.

He explained in detail the scope of his procedure, which nerves he would be touching; the possible temporary side effects, such as numbness in some nerves. He emphasized that these were temporary. While he didn’t rule out the possibility of permanent damage, although the probability was extremely low.
American doctors always explain all the possible risks and complications, allowing you to choose whether or not to take the risk. However, we know very well that these low-probability events are unlikely to occur. Actually, I don’t have any other choice; the surgery had to be done.
After the surgery, for safety reasons, he needs me to stay in the hospital for a day. Although the possibility of problems later is unlikely, staying in the hospital is always more reassuring. And the two doctors will have further examine the result, then I will be discharged and return to my temporary accommodation. After resting for another day for Mama Liu to drive me home.

A week later, I will begin preparations related to Radiotherapy. It seems that Proton therapy is unavoidable to ensure that the cancer cells are completely removed. They already have a very detailed plan, which, based on their experience, is the best approach.

I only need to have a final check-up two days before the surgery on the 15th to confirm that my heart rate and blood pressure are sufficient for the procedure, as the two surgeries combined are estimated to take four to five hours. These are all skin deep surgeries, not requiring penetration of the body, so the stress on the body is relatively limited. However, 4-5 hours of general anesthesia certainly requires some consideration. Therefore, they need to ensure that each step proceeds according to plan.

This is the information we have at present. Thank you all for continuing to pray for a smooth surgery! ~ Papa Liu

一月7日 跟另外一位外科醫生見面了，這位大夫負責切除我頸部上的淋巴结。人非常好。感觉他年紀不大，却有許多的手術經驗。他说我的病例算是比较罕见，但不极端罕见。

他跟我詳細的解釋了他要做的範圍。要接触到哪一些神經；事後可能會有一些暫時的副作用，像是某些神經會有一些麻木的感覺。但都是暫時的。随然也不排除有任何永久性傷害的可能，雖然可能性非常低。美國的醫生都是先把最壞的結果都告訴你，讓你自己選擇要不要担這個風險，但是我們也知道這些發生的概率都不高。事實上，我并沒有其他的選擇，手術必須要做。
手術之後為了安全保險，他要求我留院一天。雖然後面有問題的可能性不大，但是留在醫院總是比較安心一點。所以我早上手術之後在醫院待到第二天早上。等兩位醫生檢查完之後我就出院回到暫住的地方。休息一天之後才上路由Mama Liu開車回家。一周之後再開始進行跟放療有關的預備工作。現在看來為了確定要把癌細胞清除乾淨，放療是無法避免。他們已經有一個非常詳細的安排跟方案了，根據他們的經驗這是最好的辦法。

我現在只須要在一月15日手術前兩天去做最後的確認，確定心臟血壓等情況可以承受這次的手術，因為兩個手術加起來估計是要四-五個小時。雖然都算是表皮性的手術，並不需要進入身體內部，因此對身體造成的負擔就相对有限。但是四五個小時的全身麻醉當然也有一定的顧慮。所以他們要確定每一個環節都可以照計劃進行。

以上是目前所知道的情況。謝謝各位繼續在禱告中為整個手術的平順代求！ ～ Papa Liu