Last week I had an appointment with my ENT doctor. After looking around and trying his best to make me gag he didn’t find anything suspicious. That’s great news! It’s been over a year now since my issues with squamous cell carcinoma (throat cancer) and it’s wonderful that things have remained quiet.
The doctor said it was time to drop the regular checkups and that I should just call him and setup an appointment if I noticed any changes that seemed suspicious.
After another CAT scan and a checkup by my ENT surgeon all remains clear as far as the throat cancer goes. It’s been over 8 months since the cancer was first found and almost 6 months since I discontinued the chemo and radiation treatments.
Playing the odds seems to be working!
Two days ago my hair started falling out – that’s three weeks after my chemo treatment and on the day I was supposed to have my second treatment. I don’t think I’ll lose all of it but there is a bunch in the shower – on my towel – on the pillow – and running my fingers through my hair leaves them full of it. It seems to be falling out mostly from the back of my head.
As a result of the chemo, all food tastes different – most of it tastes somewhat bad – none of it really tastes good. Pepsi and Coke taste awful. I sure hope this aspect of it improves soon, I miss a good meal.
Well after only a week (and two meetings with the radiation oncologist) we have made the decision to discontinue my chemo and radiation therapy. A lot of stuff went into the mix to make this big decision, it certainly was not made lightly and the doctor didn’t fight me on it.
Basically it was decided that the odds of the cancer being eliminated by the current treatment are only 10-20% better than simply doing nothing. Also, restarting my treatment at a later date (if necessary) is always an option and should be about as effective as doing it now as long as they get an early start on any growth, which will require that I have regular checks by an ENT and occasional PT scans.
The side effects (both temporary and permanent) of this particular cancer treatment are significant and were a major part of this decision. It would never have been a situation of “the cancer is beaten and life is back to normal”.
Well today (Tuesday) was my first actual cancer treatment, all of the visits to this point had just been planning and dress rehearsals. The radiation was first, about 40 minutes in there – they put me on the table – secured me with the mask and shoulder straps – did a couple of x-rays and then ran the machine though its paces. I got up off the table, straightened my shirt – took a few photos and went upstairs to the chemo lab.
After a brief wait they came and took me back to a room lined with recliners, each with its own IV stand and pump. Here they took some blood samples, put in an IV and started pumping in the fluids – some four different bags worth plus a needle or two of some other stuff for good measure.
This entry is getting posted a bit late simply because I have been too sick to mess with it! But better late than never.
I got a call from the hospital today – Monday will be a dry run to check out the setup and then on Tuesday at 8am I will get my first radiation therapy followed by 5 hours of chemo.
I’m already feeling nauseated. Seriously.
Well this week I went to the hospital and they made a mask for me. It was made from a warm plastic that was pushed down over my face and stretched all the way down to the back of my head. It will be used to hold my head into position so the radiation can hit the exact same spots each time. They will put it over my face and bolt it to the table I will be on during the radiation treatments. They also will be holding me in place with some clamps over my shoulders.
I also got my first (and last) tattoo. Not a butterfly … just a small dot on my chest that they will use (with the help of a laser spot) to line me up into the same position on the table each time.
Other preparations this week took me back to the dentist twice. He took impressions of my teeth to make fluoride trays for me. What I got back today were clear plastic molds of my teeth that fit snugly over them. He also provided a bottle of grape flavored fluoride treatment. The radiation oncologist had told me to get them made and wants me to wear them during the radiation treatments to help protect my teeth. And of course I’ll use them for applying the fluoride treatment.
Well on Thursday I had my first appointment with my radiation oncologist. He’s the one who figures out how much radiation I’ll get and exactly where it will be targeted. We talked a good bit and as part of the exam he decided to take a look inside me via a tube up my nose – referred to as nasal endoscopy.
I’m sure this was done during my last surgery when the ENT surgeon was taking biopsies all over and looking for any signs of cancer but I wasn’t awake for it. This time I was most definitely awake! I’ll skip the details but suffice it to say that after a spray of something up the nose to numb me a bit and then a well lubed up thin, flexible tube with a light on the end was slid in my nostril. He actually put it in about a foot and pulled it back out several times when I started to gag. After looking around we started discussing the treatment plan.
Basically it’s going to be radiation therapy 5 times a week for 6 weeks along with chemo 3 times during that period. My next appointment there is on Tuesday.
My first visit to an oncologist was the 6th of July. That’s some four weeks after I first heard the word cancer mentioned. There were actually two doctors that talked with me and laid out what they felt should happen.
They explained some about the cancer – basically neck cancer – a squamous cell carcinoma. The primary cause is smoking and/or drinking and possibly HPV – a virus. They also discussed treatment with me. They said that the standard treatment in similar cases was a radical neck dissection (remove all lymph nodes from one side of the neck), followed by chemo and radiation.
They ordered more tests, an MRI, a PET scan and a test for HPV – and they scheduled me to come back in two weeks for results and more planning.
Ok if you really want to go back to when and how this cancer started I guess it was caused by my smoking for 30 some years but I’m not here to place blame. I quit smoking in January of 2005 but since then I’ve had a heart attack and a 2x bypass surgery. And now I guess that this cancer thing is part two of the punishment.
I don’t really recall when the swelling in my neck first started. I know it was there in March of this year and perhaps much earlier. I had noticed it get smaller on my trip to Mexico in March. I thought at the time that the shrinking was caused by a recent round of antibiotics I had been on.
In May I went to my doctor again, this time for a physical where I planned to ask specifically about the lump. A CT scan was ordered and the results came back as it being a branchial cyst … no big deal. I was sent to see an ENT doctor who reviewed the results and we scheduled surgery to cut it out.
That takes the story to this post: June 8th
Well I haven’t been posting on this subject since I first heard that I had cancer but since then a lot has happened … and there is much, much more to come!
With so much having happened, I’m going to try to break down the events of the last month and present them chronologically over the next few days.
Almost four years ago I had coronary bypass surgery and at that time I decided to document it here on my blog. I’m going to try to do the same for my current challenge.
Well I got some information on what they found as a result of the surgery on Monday … nothing found. This leaves me with more questions and my first appointment with a cancer specialist. That’s another 2 weeks from now. I just love waiting and wondering.
Well the surgery got rescheduled for Monday so a pathologist could be on-hand during the procedure. All went well – and they even took out a tonsil for good measure but there still isn’t any news for me. I didn’t get to talk with the doctor at all yesterday and a call to his office today said they should be able to tell me something by Wednesday afternoon.
I hate waiting!
Well I had my follow-up appointment with the surgeon yesterday and he didn’t give me good news. What they found was squamous cell carcinoma. He couldn’t say where it was or actually anything about it other than he felt it was in my throat somewhere. When I looked it up on-line almost everything just refers to skin cancer, but that isn’t what I have.
Anyway, I’m scheduled for another day surgery to see what they can find. He plans on taking a look see and gathering a few samples from my throat. He said he may also remove a tonsil while he is at it. It is scheduled for this Saturday. FUN!
This isn’t a fun subject. Last Tuesday I went into the hospital for the removal of a branchial cyst – basically a lump in the side of my neck. A straight forward operation … they put you completely under and slice it out – glue you back together and when you wake up, you go home. No big deal except for a few days of discomfort. Well that’s how it was supposed to go and indeed, how it seemed to go.
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At this time, 2 years ago, I was on a table with my chest opened up and my heart wasn’t beating. It’s been 2 years since I went into the hospital for a double bypass operation and thankfully I haven’t had any heart issues since then. I guess that means the operation worked!
I still have discomfort when trying to sleep lying on my side but a properly placed pillow helps to make it bearable. Other than that (and the scars) there are no signs of the operation in my daily life. It was quite an ordeal but I’m alive.
The original blog entry from October 2005 is here.
Today I had my first visit with my cardiologist since my arterial bypass operation and he actually gave me good news. He said that everything seemed OK and he didn’t need to see me again for a year. I’m happy.
Today marked 6 weeks since my heart arterial bypass operation. It is also the outside date of the “4 to 6 weeks” originally given by my surgeon for when I would be “back to normal”. Don’t believe a surgeon!
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Today marked 5 weeks since my bypass operation and was my first time driving since surgery. On my initial consult with the surgeon he had told me it would be 4-6 weeks until I could drive. On the followup visit with him 2 weeks ago, he changed his story some and told me that it would be 4 more weeks (7 weeks total) until I could drive. Well I just couldn’t hold out any longer!
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Had my first follow-up appointment with my surgeon today. 3 weeks after the operation and he says everything looks fine. Most of the scabs over the incisions had already fallen off but he removed the remaining ones. I asked about when I would be cleared to drive … 4 more weeks – not an answer that I was looking for. He scheduled another appointment for 6 weeks out – just before Christmas.
I know I’m improving almost everyday. Some nights I’m just so sore from being active throughout the day. I’m off the nice pain pills and just using Advil. I still can’t lay on my side due to the pain – only on my back and it is starting to ache! My chest is numb and my leg still painful. Coughs, sneezes and laughter all hurt like hell but it is getting better.
