A planned surgery for Pat Dunks, a lab tech at Powell Valley Hospital, has been postponed. 

Dunks has paraganglioma, a very rare type of tumor, around her head and neck, which is even more rare. She and her partner, Doug Montgomery, were planning to leave for New Jersey where a specialist was to remove the tumor.

However, on Wednesday, just five hours before departure, a blood test showed an abnormality and everything was put on hold. Dunks is anemic and there are other complications as well.

The situation required new testing on her blood samples, which can only be run at the Mayo Clinic. That medical clinic has facilities in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. 

Montgomery said the test will take 10 days to complete. After the results are in, Dr James Liu, a neurosurgeon at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, can make adjustments for any blood abnormality the tests uncover.

The surgery will be rescheduled for sometime in March.

Luckily, Montgomery said the couple’s airline tickets were credited for use at a later date and the Airbnb they had reserved only charged a $25 cleaning fee rather than the 50% forfeiture that is standard on cancellations within 24 hours. 

For more information, go to www.patspara.com to see the latest updates and how the fundraising campaign to meet the couple’s expenses outside surgery is progressing. 

— By Connie Burcham