Cancer: the journey

[Poboy kartman]

Thought I'd just share a little bit about what noone wants to talk or think about. .....it might help someone along the way.....if nothing else, it might be interesting. ....I don't know how complete this will be or how much time I will have to devote to it - but here goes:

When I was 5 or 6 or so years old. ...I remember going to the doctor's almost every day to have blood drawn. Years later-my mom told me it was because they thought I had leukemia. I don't know what or why that was all about-but we'll talk about that later.

I had a root canal done and it failed. A second attempt failed. I was referred to an oral surgeon.While there-I made mention of a mass at the back of my throat. He assured me it was a tonsil. I told him I had mine out and he went on to explain that the human body has like 7 or some crap......

Anyway- after living with inflamed tonsils up until age 28- when they almost killed me (no exaggeration)- I didn't give this much more thought for a long time.....Then one day I was looking in the mirror and stuck out my tongue. When I saw this mass move with my tongue-I became concerned.

Now- Here's what REALLY sucks about this whole deal.....if mr." know it all" had just said: "You ought to get that checked out"..instead of playing Marcus Wellby- it probably wouldn't have required anything more than surgery.

As it turned out it was a half-step away from being full blown......

Anyway- when I showed my wife that day....she took charge and it wasn't long before I was headed for surgery.............

More to come.........

 

[Poboy kartman]

OK- So I wake up in recovery- the surgeon tells me it was malignant. ...I give him a nod to let him know I understand. ...then comes the misery.....Same damend thing as when I had my tonsils out.....they have your mouth open for hours during surgery and it's dry as hill.....so all I want in the world is a drink of water. ....but no- that'll make me puke....or so they think. So I'm so miserable that I just keep going unconscious- something they take as aftereffects of the general anesthesia- but actually a defense mechanism I have- why stay conscious and miserable when you can "check out? "

So this went on for a few hours and finally I decided that going unconscious wasn't getting anywhere. ...so I got them to bring me some paper and pencil. ..after another hour or two of them bringing me ice chips and me constantly asking for water....they finally took me to my room.

There I found a huge pitcher of water! I was on my second glass when a nurse came in and said: "Oh good- you're drinking water. ...keep it up it's good for you. ....." REALLY? LOL...... That was the best water I ever had in my life- and little did I know just a taste of what was to come.

So I was out in a couple of days and back to work and talking a little. ....they told me not to. ...but I don't listen so good.... So I found out later that my wife had asked the surgeon if I would be able to speak after the surgery. ...he told her that I probably would- but not like before. .. (this means after healing).....So every time I see this guy on follow-up ....that's all he ever says- I just can't get over the speech.....because I don't sound any different. ....but it did take me a couple of days to adjust to my new smaller and slightly less maneuverable tongue.

What I've found much tougher is trying to maintain perfect speech without teeth....more on that later. ......

So next is the big meeting of the minds where 8 doctors review my case and come up with a course of treatment. The radiation doc comes up and says: "Well the consensus is that you don't need chemotherapy-just radiation. "

So I asked him: "What does the chemotherapy doctor think?" He replied: "He thinks you need chemotherapy". So I said- "Then I will be doing chemo as well. " See- I'm not a masochist- but in that instant. .I thought- what if this becomes fatal.....would I want to go to my grave wondering if it had been different if I had done chemo? I then asked if there was a choice of just chemo- which was no.

The next step was a port.....a little device they put in your chest that allows them to pump poison straight to your heart......I had $5000 sitting in a drawer at the house and I told them I was going hunting and wanted to know whether to hold off on that surgery....short story...yes....other short story- I was still working and had people working for me. ...so I had my brother find us a place to hunt...despite me telling him it was on me- and money was no object- he found the only place close to Ranger Texas without any deer.....

More to come. ....

 

[Poboy kartman]

So now the treatment starts.....or is that torture? IDK....So the first thing is this mask- so you can't squirm while they fry you.... You are literally bolted down for the trip to the glorified microwave. .....

The radiation treatments are painless- well almost...afterwards the top of my lungs always bothered me for awhile. .....couple of hours. ....so I would wind up bumming a smoke off one of my helpers....after a week or so- I quit doing that- so I was 100% smoke free-and clean and sober....I had actually quit drinking a month or two before being diagnosed. ...I only put the smokes down after the diagnosis. ....

So I would go early in the morning for treatment ( radiation)....then get me a double meat double cheese Whataburger with jalapenos for breakfast... (actually something I started before I started treatment to put on wieght)...
I got up to 180 lbs. which I'm glad I did- more on that later. ...

 

[Joe-405]

you will make it. I had non hodgkins in 2008 and they gave me 2 months to live............well since im typing this obdviously they were wrong ! I had chemo and radiation for a year or so and im doing great now.

FYI i was 115 pounds when i started treatment and i gained weight cause now im 200.

 

[Poboy kartman]

you will make it. I had non hodgkins in 2008 and they gave me 2 months to live............well since im typing this obdviously they were wrong ! I had chemo and radiation for a year or so and im doing great now.

FYI i was 115 pounds when i started treatment and i gained weight cause now im 200.

Yeah- I'm still early in the story here. ....so there is much more to come....I had about 10 paragraphs typed up 2 days ago and hit something on my phone and wiped it all out.....

Congrats on the victory. ....I'll be getting around to that.....

 

[Poboy kartman]

So to pick this back up where I left off.....

The diagnosis was Intermediate stage Mucuepidermoid Carcinoma of the minor salivary gland. I did 39 radiations and 8 Chemos....The Chemos were Docetaxel (better known as Taxotere) which was a cool drug which interferes with the growth of cancer cells and IIRC- is derived from the Yew plant.

Then there was Cisplatin. . (Platinol)....pure poison....a heavy metal drug.... (and I'm not talking about the kind Ozzy Osbourne used...) but heavy metals.....this is the one that kicks you in the pants....makes you sick, lose your energy, sense of taste, and hair...

Anyway- I'm a few weeks into my treatments now and the pain is starting to set in. See radiation is like sunburn- doesn't really hurt at first. ...but later!!!!
So I started on the pain meds...a 25 mg. Oxycotin patch to start....by the height of my treatment-I was on 175mg of Oxytocin patches, 1.5 IIRC -mg liguid morphine as needed. ....15 mg. slow release morphine and the max dose of Tylenol #4's allowed every 4-6 hours....and I needed all of it.

These were the days in ****....I developed 2nd degree burns on my shoulders and upper back. ...What one of my docs called "exit wounds"...(from the radiation)....I now understood why my upper lungs bothered me early on...He went on to say that as bad as that looked the inside of my throat was 10 times worse....and that wasn't hard to believe.

See- that is what made it so bad.....[BWHERE][/B] it was!

I think I'll stop for now....and pick up a bit on how and why on the next post....