So, Chris has cancer. Back in July when they removed his lymph nodes and tested them for cancer, they came back negative. The lump came back and was even bigger five weeks after his first surgery, so he went back in. They were debating about whether or not it was scar tissue or lymph nodes again. His doctor had originally wanted to take his tonsils out, but he didn't have any signs of anything necessarily being wrong with them, so he didn't have them removed the first time. This time, he trusted his doctor (Capener) and had them removed along with the entire string of lymph nodes in his neck. The mass of lymph nodes they removed was about the size of a baseball. They sent everything back in to be tested, and this time the cancer was in his lymph nodes and the primary tumor was in his left tonsil. Apparently before, the lymph nodes were reacting to the cancer in his tonsils but it hadn't spread to his lymph nodes yet, or at least not the the ones they removed and tested.
The type of cancer is called Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and because it had moved from his tonsils to his lymph nodes it is considered to be stage 4. Since he is young and healthy otherwise, they say they are going to hit him with the kitchen sink. They want to do 7 weeks of radiation 5 days a week and 7 weeks of chemo, which is once a week for three hours. They say that the type of cancer he has is slightly easier to work with and are optimistic, saying that there is a 70-80% chance that it goes away and never comes back. I hope they're right
The effects of radiation include a sore throat so terrible that he will barely be able to swallow. He will end up with a feeding tube so he can maintain his nutrition to heal properly. He is supposed to also force himself to drink because it's supposed to help him heal faster. We are going to meet with a dietitian to discuss how to use the feeding tube. He will also lose some hair around his neck but be left with a little rat tail. He may have a bit of hearing loss as well. Hopefully it is nothing too serious. His salivary glands will also be damaged because there's not really a way to avoid them. He will not produce as much saliva and have to carry a water bottle around or chew gum to help keep his mouth moist. Hopefully they aren't damaged too much. His sore throat will last for several weeks after treatment ends.
There were two different chemo drugs they discussed. One, cisplatin, has terrible side effects that are both short term and long term. It is the preferred drug, though. His doctor recommended herbatox, which has way less side effects. He may have a rash on his face and chest and inflammation around his nails, but there is no nausea and not any long term effects. Chris was pretty torn between them but is going to go with herbatox. I was glad. I can't imagine being nauseated while having a throat so sore you can barely drink. They want to give him a few weeks to finish healing from having his tonsils out and his radical neck dissection before starting his treatment.
After ten days of healing, he leaned over and picked up a gun. He felt something pop and his neck filled with fluid. He was pretty freaked out. He had some friends over, and in the scramble of me trying to find keys and shoes and what to do with the kids, his friend just rushed him in. They called an ambulance on the way to the hospital but they made it to the hospital before the ambulance could really meet up with them. He was really worried because during the radical neck dissection they went deep and worked around the major veins in his neck. I ran the kids to my sister's house and made arrangements with my mom for her to pick them up and keep them over night. Then I headed for the hospital.
His doctor came in and stabbed a huge syringe into his neck in hopes of draining it. It removed some fluid, but it just filled right back up. They had to put him under again and reopen his entire incision to drain it and clean it out. Having your tonsils out when you are an adult is hell, and having them intubate (sp?) you when you aren't fully healed makes it even worse. He was on a liquid diet for probably over three weeks because he could barely swallow. He lost 15 pounds.
He is planning on going back to work for a 15 day period, of which he only has to work 4 days. This will reset his short term benefits so we will still get 100% of his paycheck. After 6 months, that drops to 60%. We have had so many phone calls of people offering to help in any way we can. I have a whole list of people to watch my kids while I go to appointments with him. People are so amazing and generous. We are lucky to be surrounded with such awesome people.
These next pictures are from his second neck dissection and his tonsillectomy. He is so difficult when I want to take his picture! I have to pretend I'm just looking at my phone and turn it on silent so he doesn't hear the camera click.
These next two pictures are after he was opened up and cleaned out and drained. The last two are what he looked like before. It is a little blurry, but you can see how much his neck was swelled out. He said it happened in under a minute. It was officially the worst Halloween ever!
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