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On Tuesday December
11, 2007, it has been one year since I finished my last
radiation treatment for the Squamous Cell Cancer of the tongue that
I was diagnosed with back on Memorial Day of 2006. Now with two
clear PET scans under my belt, and positive follow-up visits, my
team of doctors feel pretty sure this one may be gone. I am
thankful. They told me I would loose most of my tongue, I didn’t.
They told me I would probably loose my teeth, I’ve still got them.
They told me that I would have my neck cut open to remove some lymph
nodes, that did not have to happen. At times, when I hear in e-mail
or in a board post from folks who have not had it so good, I have
twinges of guilt, because they have had it so much worse than me.
But none of us really knows what’s around the next bend, be it a car
wreck or a cancer recurrence. An almost universal outcome of this
disease is a more mindful approach to the time we do have left.
I have been
tunneling through this cancer journey for almost 20 months and I now
look back and wonder where the time has gone. Some days were long
and some moments were bad, but time does heal wounds, pain and
despair. We emerge from the darkness of the tunnel into the light of
the world once more.
No more chemo. No
more surgery. No more radiation. No more fluid infusions. No more
treatment chairs or chemo nurses. No more 5FU pump waking me up at
night. No more radiation restraint holding me to that very
uncomfortable table. No more hours spent waiting, watching,
thinking. No more personal retreats to a place that became home. No
more powerful potions saving me from the treatments that were curing
me. No more bald head. No more feeding tube and cases of Glucerna
everywhere. I hope never again.
It’s only me. And my
port that I will keep for awhile longer, just in case, and a stop
every 6 weeks to keep it clean and functioning. And periodic
follow-ups. And memories of a place and the people that took the
cancer away and gave me a life more precious than ever before.
Because of studies
and trials and people who lost their lives before me, I benefit. I
am a recipient of these wonder treatments of medical science. I am
a recipient of the gift of life. I am happy. I am relieved. I am
thankful. I am overwhelmed and I am saddened, especially for those
who are yet to go through this.
No more active
treatment. No more constant attention. No more company in strangers
who are like me, fighting a battle where some win while others do
not. It’s just me and my safety nets, family, friends, sharing,
helping, honoring, hoping, laughing, and trying to make sense of it
all.
Now the real
surviving begins.
Making it all
matter.
Oral cancer
is in the closet and needs special attention in its own right. It is
not like all other cancers by the very nature of its location. It
takes away the most basic and necessary functions of the lives that
it destroys.
It goes without saying that life can spin out of control at times
and the best we can do is plant our feet in the sand, hold hands and
help each other get through the spinning. One of the nurses here at
the University of Tennessee Cancer Center told me that the body is a
wonderful healing machine and that the mouth heals very quickly and
thankfully she is correct. It's been over a year since my
chemotherapy treatments and surgery, and 11 months since I finished
my last radiation treatment and I am doing very well with 2 clear
scans under my belt. The radiation was by far the worst part of my
overall treatment but I got through it.
The second biggest help outside of my family, friends and co-workers
has been the Oral Cancer Foundation website. The information
contained on this site is squarely focused on Head and Neck Cancers.
There is a support message board which can be far more important
than even the American Cancer Society. The message board is chock
full of information, assistance and support, given by people who
were going through cancer or helping someone with cancer. Each
person there has been touched by the effect of this grossly
disgusting disease, from young adults to older adults, from all over
the world.
If I was ever an advocate, I would be now for Oral Cancer. This is a
dreadful disease and the treatment and surgery can be very ugly. The
importance of the board is paramount, especially for people who are
unable to talk after surgery to have a place to go to obtain
information, compassion and support by the very people who
understand what they're going through.
The Oral Cancer Foundation and Oral Cancer in general needs more
press. Approximately 34,000 people in the US will be newly diagnosed
with oral cancer in 2007. This is the second year in a row in which
there has been an increase in the rate of occurrence, this time of
about 11% over last year. Worldwide the problem is far greater, with
new cases annually exceeding 481,000.
It
won't hurt a bit. Help us fight Cancer.
If you buy gifts for the holidays from Amazon, please help us in our
fight against Oral Cancer.
Oral Cancer claims one life every hour of every day in the U.S. You
can help make a difference!
The Oral Cancer Foundation (OCF)
is a national public service non-profit entity.
You can support the OCF by shopping at Amazon by using
this link ay
NO cost or obligation!
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