In May I brought you up to date on what we had been doing for the last year.
Shortly after making the post we found out from a neck CT scan that Howard had another spot in his throat. The Doctor scoped his throat but did not believe it was cancer however he wanted Howard to have a PET scan the end if May to see if it was changing any. So we had 3 weeks off from Doctors and we took off to Oklahoma to see our kids, grandkids and attend a family reunion. It was so nice to get away and not have to look at the calendar to see which Doctor we had to see tomorrow.
I would like to say that we were both born and raised in Oklahoma and yes we are Okies. However I cannot believe the sparseness of RV parks. As you may know Norman is home of the University of Oklahoma and the "Sooners" football team. Are there any RV parks in Norman? Yes, one at the county fairgrounds. Very nice people and very good rates as they should be since there are no amenities there. No laundry, no bath house, no shade trees,no grass, just hook ups and a spot to park. Well they have eight 50 amp hook ups that has sewer and water connections and about ten 30 amps with full hook ups. They also have several with just water hook ups and several with water and sewer. But hey at least we finally found someplace to park. Prior to finding this spot we had to park in Oklahoma City 25 miles away from where we wanted to be. I must say the choices there are also sparse but that's where our family is from so we made the best of it.
We did spend 5 days at Lake Murray State Park and found it to be lovely. Our family reunion was held there and we all liked it so much we are all going back next year. It is hard to get spots for the week-end during the summer months as they don't make reservations so we had to arrive on Wednesday and by Thursday noon all spaces were taken. On Sunday people were driving in and asking when we were leaving. One family showed up at 7:30 am to wait for us to leave so they could have our spot--even though we were not leaving until 2 pm which was check out time. I guess I can understand why since RV parks are sparse in OK. Maybe someone should put a few more in in the lovely state.
When we returned to Texas Howard had his pet scan and the Doctor wanted to do a pan-endoscopy and biopsy on the 26th of June. That went without too many hic-ups except he has had a sore throat and difficulty talking ever since. We continue to be hopeful that Howard will get his health back and we will be able to return to the road traveling but until then I will keep you all updated and try to post some interesting tidbits along the way.
Until next time may God continue to Bless you and watch over you.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
It's Been Awhile
It's been awhile since we have posted anything. So today's post will bring you up to date on what we have been doing for this past year.
I'm sure most of you have heard of Michael Douglas' Cancer of the Larynx. Well that is what we have been dealing with for the past year. Not Michaels cancer but Howards cancer. Unfortunately Howards was a more severe case of Larynx cancer--better known as head and neck cancer. Although I want to say all cases of cancer are severe and scary and traumatic so I am not minimizing Michaels bout with cancer.
Last spring as we were trying to travel and enjoy our retirement Howard had a continuous cold and sinus infection. He often complained of a sore throat. He took many rounds of antibiotics and used many home remedy's. No, none of them worked. In June we called our Doctor in Texas to see what should be done as we were heading out to Pennsylvania for the summer. He recommended Howard see an ENT specialist. Howard was reluctant but I insisted, so we found one in Tulsa and after a brief exam he told us Howard had a tumor in his throat and he needed to go straight to the Cancer Center. We requested he call Howards Doctor in Texas and we would be heading back home. We talked to his Doctor that afternoon and told him we were on our way home. Doctor Kubin told us he would have appointments set up for us. Off we went, in shock, to Texas to start treatment. On Monday June 28 Howard saw 3 Doctors and on Thursday he had a PET scan and saw the Surgeon Dr. Ducic. You see, Howards "tumor" had now 1 week later encased his entire throat with him breathing through a hole the size of a straw. Due the the advanced rapid growth of the tumor surgery had to be the first part of the treatment with Radiation and Chemotherapy to follow.
Howard's surgery was scheduled for July 19th. It was a long wait but the fastest the Dr. Ducic could get it scheduled. He is a renowned head and neck cancer surgeon. He seems to work around the clock but he is the best and is very thorough so wait we did.
The surgery was supposed to be 2 hours and wound up being 7 hours. He almost died on the operating table as the cancer had wrapped itself around both of the interior jugular veins. They removed the left one and had to remove half of the right one and then had to graft it to the exterior one. To the surgeons knowledge that procedure had never been done before. But, it worked. Due to the extent and length of the surgery he was unable to complete the surgery and had to do surgery again on August 3rd. That surgery was in fact only 3 hours. They went back in the same incisions which was from ear to ear and from the center of the neck up to his chin.This time they removed his Larynx and 1/2 his thyroid. They had to pull one side of the back of his tongue down to form a new esophagus for him to be able to eat. He has a tracheotomy which he breathes through now and also which he talks through. We (I stayed with him the entire time-they were able to put us in a suite with a Murphy bed for me) were in the hospital for 23 days and we had wonderful care both he and I from the nurses at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth Texas. Unfortunately we were only home 6 days and had to return for 5 more days as Howard developed blood clots in his legs.
After a brief recovery period Howard started on Radiation treatements-33-one each day Monday through Friday and Three 6 hour chemotherapy treatments each one 3 weeks apart. All in all the treatments were pretty rough with him faring much better than they expected. We believe one of the best things we did for Howard to to give him his Isagenix Whey Protein shakes every day. After the Radiation he returned to his other vitamins and minerals and now also takes Isagenix Ageless Actives which contains Vitamin D3, CoQ10, and Resveratrol. If you would like more information on these wonderful healthy products please visit our website.
Howard now has a speech prosthesis which he talks through. He frequently sees Doctors and has tests and CT scans and Pet Scans. He currently has 9 Doctors--the Oncologist released him last week. He is in physical therapy 3 days a week. They cut through a lot of his nerves and muscles in his neck so he is just now getting to where he can turn his neck some and he can look up a little and down a little. They are all keeping a very close watch on him.
Thanks to the Lord Howard has survived this ordeal. Although the recovery has been very slow and the cost has been tremendous we are so thankful and grateful to God, our friends and our families.
So that is where we have been and why "It's Been Awhile.
My Niece gave us this neat book you might like to have if you are surviving any type of Cancer. It's just little stories from Cancer patients.
Although there are many books on Laryngeal cancer most of them are quite technical and quite spendy so probably you will just want to talk with your Doctor if you have Laryngeal cancer
There are many wonderful books on surviving Cancer and getting back to a new normal life. As anyone who has been through Cancer and survived "normal" is no longer what it was before. You and your families lives have changed dramatically. So you have a new "Normal"
Our new goal in life is to help people get healthy, stay healthy, and to talk with patients and families who are experiencing Laryngeal Cancer. May God Bless you all
I'm sure most of you have heard of Michael Douglas' Cancer of the Larynx. Well that is what we have been dealing with for the past year. Not Michaels cancer but Howards cancer. Unfortunately Howards was a more severe case of Larynx cancer--better known as head and neck cancer. Although I want to say all cases of cancer are severe and scary and traumatic so I am not minimizing Michaels bout with cancer.
Last spring as we were trying to travel and enjoy our retirement Howard had a continuous cold and sinus infection. He often complained of a sore throat. He took many rounds of antibiotics and used many home remedy's. No, none of them worked. In June we called our Doctor in Texas to see what should be done as we were heading out to Pennsylvania for the summer. He recommended Howard see an ENT specialist. Howard was reluctant but I insisted, so we found one in Tulsa and after a brief exam he told us Howard had a tumor in his throat and he needed to go straight to the Cancer Center. We requested he call Howards Doctor in Texas and we would be heading back home. We talked to his Doctor that afternoon and told him we were on our way home. Doctor Kubin told us he would have appointments set up for us. Off we went, in shock, to Texas to start treatment. On Monday June 28 Howard saw 3 Doctors and on Thursday he had a PET scan and saw the Surgeon Dr. Ducic. You see, Howards "tumor" had now 1 week later encased his entire throat with him breathing through a hole the size of a straw. Due the the advanced rapid growth of the tumor surgery had to be the first part of the treatment with Radiation and Chemotherapy to follow.
Howard's surgery was scheduled for July 19th. It was a long wait but the fastest the Dr. Ducic could get it scheduled. He is a renowned head and neck cancer surgeon. He seems to work around the clock but he is the best and is very thorough so wait we did.
The surgery was supposed to be 2 hours and wound up being 7 hours. He almost died on the operating table as the cancer had wrapped itself around both of the interior jugular veins. They removed the left one and had to remove half of the right one and then had to graft it to the exterior one. To the surgeons knowledge that procedure had never been done before. But, it worked. Due to the extent and length of the surgery he was unable to complete the surgery and had to do surgery again on August 3rd. That surgery was in fact only 3 hours. They went back in the same incisions which was from ear to ear and from the center of the neck up to his chin.This time they removed his Larynx and 1/2 his thyroid. They had to pull one side of the back of his tongue down to form a new esophagus for him to be able to eat. He has a tracheotomy which he breathes through now and also which he talks through. We (I stayed with him the entire time-they were able to put us in a suite with a Murphy bed for me) were in the hospital for 23 days and we had wonderful care both he and I from the nurses at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth Texas. Unfortunately we were only home 6 days and had to return for 5 more days as Howard developed blood clots in his legs.
After a brief recovery period Howard started on Radiation treatements-33-one each day Monday through Friday and Three 6 hour chemotherapy treatments each one 3 weeks apart. All in all the treatments were pretty rough with him faring much better than they expected. We believe one of the best things we did for Howard to to give him his Isagenix Whey Protein shakes every day. After the Radiation he returned to his other vitamins and minerals and now also takes Isagenix Ageless Actives which contains Vitamin D3, CoQ10, and Resveratrol. If you would like more information on these wonderful healthy products please visit our website.
Howard now has a speech prosthesis which he talks through. He frequently sees Doctors and has tests and CT scans and Pet Scans. He currently has 9 Doctors--the Oncologist released him last week. He is in physical therapy 3 days a week. They cut through a lot of his nerves and muscles in his neck so he is just now getting to where he can turn his neck some and he can look up a little and down a little. They are all keeping a very close watch on him.
Thanks to the Lord Howard has survived this ordeal. Although the recovery has been very slow and the cost has been tremendous we are so thankful and grateful to God, our friends and our families.
So that is where we have been and why "It's Been Awhile.
My Niece gave us this neat book you might like to have if you are surviving any type of Cancer. It's just little stories from Cancer patients.
Although there are many books on Laryngeal cancer most of them are quite technical and quite spendy so probably you will just want to talk with your Doctor if you have Laryngeal cancer
There are many wonderful books on surviving Cancer and getting back to a new normal life. As anyone who has been through Cancer and survived "normal" is no longer what it was before. You and your families lives have changed dramatically. So you have a new "Normal"
Our new goal in life is to help people get healthy, stay healthy, and to talk with patients and families who are experiencing Laryngeal Cancer. May God Bless you all
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