August 24, 2011

No new news. Just an update on Ruth/Mom/Grammy's condition. Mom continues to heal from the effects of the radiation. The wound on the outside of her neck gets smaller and smaller each day and is hardly noticeable unless you know it is there. The wound on the inside is what continues to give her fits. It continues to produce excess phlegm and mucus which makes it hard for her to swallow effectively. She can still swallow her daily pills, but she has a really hard time with all kinds of food. Because of this, she takes all of her nutrition through her feeding tube. We know this will end and eventually she will be able to eat again, but as she endures this time of her treatment, she still needs your prayers. Prayers that the cancer continues to shrink. Prayers that the excess phlegm and mucus dissipate. Prayers that her ability to swallow returns soon. Only a few more weeks until we return to Dr. Barker for an update and I will let you know what he says and when her CT scan and/or PET scan will be.

Thanks again for your prayers!

August 8, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy finished 13 chemotherapy treatments on Wed. Aug. 3rd and 35 radiation treatments on Fri. Aug. 5th!!  We are so glad the 7 weeks/35 days of radiation are over! Mom has lost a little more weight as it is now almost impossible for her to swallow. She is still above 100 pounds (which is okay since she is only 4'11" tall) and keeping her above 100 pounds has been my goal in helping her through the treatments. She drinks most of her nutrition through her feeding tube, but occassionally she can swallow a small amount of something and any amount is good as it keeps her ability to swallow in practice. The outside of her neck is healing and scabbing over and not causing her as much trouble although it is still tender and annoying. Her voice comes and goes but most of the time it is gone or so soft it is hard to hear her. She has one more day of labwork and an appointment with Dr. Nugent, the chemo doctor, this week. In early September she has an appointment with Dr. Barker, the radiation doctor. At that time, he will schedule a follow-up CT scan to compare to the first CT scan she had before she started treatments.  This will be followed by a PET scan to compare to the first PET scan she also had before she started treatments. Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers, phone calls, and cards during mom's treatments. Keep praying that the radiation and chemotherapy have completed eradicated the cancer! I will continue to keep the blog updated when we have more news!

THANK YOU!

July 29,2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy saw both of her oncologists this week. Her radiation oncologist, Dr. Barker, continues to be impressed/amazed with her lack of complaining about the side effects she is enduring. Her neck and throat are raw, yet when asked how she is doing, she says "okay." She uses no painkillers as she says the pain and discomfort are bearable. Dr. Barker has a doctor from UT Southwestern in Dallas working with him this month, and he too is impressed with mom.

Mom also saw her chemotherapy oncologist, Dr. Nugent, this week. You remember him? The one who didn't think she could endure the treatments at her age?  His comments to Mom this week were "you're amazing" and "you're incredible." He also said "I (meaning himself, Dr. Nugent) worry too much" but I know now that although he is much different than Dr. Barker in his "bedsid manner", he too has mom's best interests at heart. I think he learned a valuable lesson, though, to not just look at the person's chronological age on paper as that is not a true indicator as to how someone will tolerate treatment.

Now for the slightly negative aspects of her treatment. Mom continues to lose weight, but she and I are working on a plan to keep it at its current level or, God willing, to gain back a few pounds. Her biggest trouble swallowing is the excess mucus brought about by the radiation treatments which makes it difficult for her to swallow some foods and liquids. Yes, we have started using her feeding tube, but she also continues to eat soft foods and drink milk shakes to make sure her throat remembers how to swallow after the treatments are over.

The other negative is the burn on the side of her neck from the radiation. It is getting very ugly, raw, and painful. She puts her radiation cream on it, but even the act of touching the cream to the burn is painful. With that said, she doesn't complain about it. She just endures it.

So, with the posting of this blog, Mom has 7 more radiation treatments and 1 more chemotherapy treatment left!  Woo hoo! 

KEEP PRAYING!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

July 16, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy is now halfway through her 35 radiation treatments and she continues to receive chemotherapy once a week. She is doing great and she continues to amaze the doctors. Dr. Barker called her his "Poster Child" this week for how she is enduring radiation. Her throat is red, but she doesn't complain about it, and she continues to gargle/swish with a prescription mouthwash to help with the radiation side effects. Food has either lost its tastes or tastes wrong, but she continues to make herself eat and she has only lost a pound or two depending on which office is weighing her. Her skin on the outside of her throat is not bothering her, but she has lotion from the doctor if it does. When Susan, Dr. Nugent's PA, looked over her lab report this week, she said that over time, her lab results have improved instead of worsening.

I hope all of you out there who are reading this and praying for Ruth/Mom/Grammy understand the power of prayer and how your prayers are helping her endure the treatements and holding her up throughout them.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE KEEP PRAYING, especially as we get into the second half of of her radiation treatments! 

July 7, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy has now had 12 radiation treatments with 23 to go.  She is tolerating the radiation well, and Dr. Barker is amazed at how well she is doing. The worst part for her is the small ache the radiation table sometimes causes in her back. Her weight is staying fairly consistent, and she continues to eat normally and does not use her feeding tube for nutrition. She cleans it with water every 3 days, and it is ready if she needs it. Dr. Nugent decided to continue her chemotherapy regimen since she is doing so well, and of course the tumor will shrink more quickly if she can tolerate and continue the chemo at the same time she has radiation. She goes once a week for infusion and the worst part is sitting in the waiting room for long stretches waiting to be called back for labwork or to see the PA or doctor. The chemotherapy has caused a sore in Mom's mouth that annoys her but doesn't keep her from eating. Mom said the reason she is doing so well is because of all your prayers, and I agree. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued prayers.

June 21, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had her last radiation"fitting" and check last Friday and everything was "good to go." She started radiation yesterday, Monday, June 20th, and she was a little apprehensive as anyone would be at the beginning of 35 radiation treatments. Her weight continues to hold steady. Her blood pressure was a little elevated, but I attribute that to the beginning of radiation and not knowing what to expect. I (Carolyn) finally met Dr. Nugent for the first time last week and, although he is definitely not as personable as Dr. Barker, I feel Dr. Nugent also has mom's best interests in hand.  He mentioned the radiosensitizer drug she took twice a day for awhile in pill form. It is a drug intended to improve the radiation therapy she is now receiving by enhancing tumor cell killing while the radiation hopefully has much less effect on normal tissue. The drug she received through her port was given to shrink the tumor and has been successful. It is still there but smaller, and he said he would probably continue her on the IV/ port drug in hopes of continuing to shrink the tumor. I thought he meant after we finished the 35 radiation treatments, but Ruth/Mom/Grammy received a call to set up the chemotherapy appointment and Dr. Nugent wants to start back up this week. We haven't talked to Dr. Nugent about this yet, as to why we are now going with concurrent instead of sequential treatment as we thought we were doing. I'm assuming it is because she did so well during the first 3 rounds of chemotherapy.

I know I keep thanking you for all the prayers, but God hears your requests. Sometimes He answers the way we want Him to, and this is one of those times, so keep praying please that Ruth/Mom/Grammy will be able to tolerate the radiation and chemotherapy at the same time!!

 

June 10, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had another CT scan on June 7th. Today, June 10th, we went to see Dr. Barker to hear the results. Dr. Barker used the word "favorable" in talking about the CT scan results. He said the tumor had gotten smaller (he didn't say how much smaller). He did another scope through mom's nose to look at the tumor directly. He said, "The tumor is definitely smaller and the voicebox is wide open. Let's start radiation to see if we can get rid of the tumor altogether." Dr. Barker has already done the prep work for the radiation and almost all of the technology has been set up. He wants one more appointment to take a "safety set of x-rays" to be sure everything is set up perfectly. That appointment is scheduled for late next week with radiation to begin sometime the week of June 20. Ruth/Mom/Grammy will receive 35 doses of radiation 5 days a week with the 4th of July off. She should finish up this round of radiation in early August, right before her 86th birthday, and then I'm sure it will be time for another CT scan.

As always, thank you so much for your prayers. I will update the blog to let you know how Mom handles the radiation so keep on praying that she does not have too bad of a reaction to the radiation and that she, at the age of 85, can tolerate it. She's pretty tough and has impressed both doctors with her strength and stamina so I think she will tolerate it just fine as long as we are all lifting her up in prayer!

May 23, 2011

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had another visit with Susan, the Physician's Assistant, today. Mom gained back the 2 pounds she had lost. Her BP, blood counts, liver, and kidneys continue to be at good levels.

Mom is going to increase the dosage of her pill form of chemo from 1 pill in the a.m. and 2 pills in the p.m. to 2 pills in the a.m. and 2 pills in the p.m. Pray that the increased dosage will not increase her vertigo. The dosage of the IV chemotherapy will stay the same.

Dr. Barker (Mom's radiologist) emailed Susan, and he would like her to schedule Mom for a new diagnostic CT scan of Mom's neck to compare the original pictures of Mom's tumor with new pictures. A couple of days after the scan, Mom will meet with Dr. Barker to discuss the results and plan out the next stage of mom's treatment. These appointments will be the first full week in June. Mom's new "Phase B" treatment plan will probably include daily radiation along with weekly chemo, but we will find out more after the CT scan and the visit with Dr. Barker.

I'd like to take time to thank my brother, Kip, for all he has done during the last few months to make sure Mom has made it to all her appointments. He and I are a great team. While I took Mom to most of the appointments that led up to her cancer diagnosis, Kip has taken over the last few months. For those of you who don't know, I (Carolyn) am a 4th grade teacher, and it was becoming hard for me to continue getting substitutes, and I had run out of "sick" days. Now that school is out for me for the summer, I will start taking Mom to most of her appointments, knowing that Kip is there if I need him. I know my other brother, Dana, wishes he lived closer at times like these, and I know all I have to do is call and ask, and he will be here to help. He is doing a great job praying for Mom, and his calls always lift her spirits.

AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!

May 17, 2011

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had a visit with Susan, Dr. Nugent's PA, today. She has lost 2 pounds since her last visit, but she weighs 3 pounds more than her lowest weight. Her blood pressure was low at her last visit, but today it is good. Her chemistry panel is "fabulous" which means her liver, kidneys, and blood counts are all at good levels.
Mom will continue the same doses of chemotherapy at this time, both the IV and the pill form. Dr. Nugent may decide to increase the doses at the next visit.
It is about time to reevaluate and check the cancer as mom heads toward the next phase in her cancer treatment. Susan wants to schedule a new CT scan to compare to the first one she had. We will find out if the cancer has shrunk, grown, or stayed the same.

May 9, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy began her second round of  "2 week on-1 week off" chemotherapy last Monday, May 2. The doctor also increased the pill form of her chemotherapy from 1 pill in the morning and 1 pill in the evening to 1 pill in the morning and 2 pills in the evening. Her weight is holding steady and other than a little increase in her vertigo when she first increased the pill dosage in the morning instead of the evening, she has been doing extremely well. (Now that she takes the 2 pills in the evening before bed instead of in the morning, her vertigo is back under control.) She feels well enough to once again drive herself to Baker Street and the hairdresser. Today she had the 2nd infusion of chemotherapy in this round. Next week (May 16-20) will be her week off of chemotherapy in this round. Please continue praying and sending cards as the prayers must be the reason she is doing so well and the cards lift her spirit and make her smile.

April 19, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy and I went to Baylor All Saints today for her to have what we thought would be surgery to remove her first port and replace it with a second port on the other side of her chest. When we checked in, I thought it was a little strange that they sent us directly to Radiology instead of to Day Surgery like the last time, but since the last time they eventually took Mom to Radiology to insert her port and feeding tube and, Johnny and I waited in the same waiting room Mom and I were now waiting in, I didn't worry too much. When the nurse came to get us, it was one of the same nurses who had been there for her 1st port surgery. She told us that Dr. Patel thought he could, and would like to try to, manually flip the port back to its original/correct position. We both went back in the Radiology wing and, they took Mom to one room while I waited in another. I heard and saw Dr. Patel and the nurse (can't remember her name) as they were conferring over an x-ray they were trying to take of Mom's port. The next thing I knew, Mom was coming out of the room and, for some reason, I figured we were going to to Day Surgery to get ready for surgery. Instead, the nurse said we could go home because when the doctor checked out Mom's port and the x-ray she had taken, the port had already flipped back to its original/correct position on its own. (Okay, not on its own. God, thank you!) They even accessed the port to be sure it would be ready for the next round of chemotherapy. Anyway, it was like Christmas in July and it was time to celebrate! Mom and I went to Red Lobster (one of our favorite restaurants) for lunch and, later that afternoon, I took her to Baker Street Pub to see her friends whom she had not seen in about a month. What a day! Thank you for all your prayers for Ruth/Mom/Grammy! Please don't stop praying!

April 18, 2011

Kip took Ruth/Mom/Grammy to her second chemotherapy infusion at Texas Oncology today. They had to do it through an IV in her arm instead of her port as the port still appears to be flipped and cannot be accessed. She seems to be tolerating the chemotherapy well. It does appears the nausea medicine Dr. Nugent prescribed for her to take and, which the nurses recommended she take even if she is not nauseous, is making her dizzy, sleepy, lethargic, etc. She has decided not to take the nausea medicine unless she really needs it and thankfully, at this time, she does not. Tomorrow I will take her to Baylor for day surgery to remove the 1st port and place a 2nd port on the other side.

April 15, 2011

Kip took Ruth/Mom/Grammy to Baylor All Saints to have her port checked today. Her port has indeed "flipped" and Dr. Patel and the nurse recommended mom put warm compresses on her port to help with the swelling, stop taking her blood thinner, and return to the hospital next week to have the 1st port removed and a 2nd port placed on the other side of her chest. Needless to say, Mom is not too happy about the prospects of a second surgery and a second port.

April 11, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had her first chemotherapy infusion today which took about 1 hour and 45 minutes to infuse. She also began taking a pill form of another chemotherapy drug.  She is also taking an anti-nausea medication which seems to be working. She is taking a smaller dose of the pill form than would normally be prescribed for a younger person as well as having chemotherapy infusion less often. She is doing well and she continues to eat orally instead of through her feeding tube. She has even gained a pound! The only problem we are having right now is with her infusion port. Somehow her port has "flipped," probably due to the hematoma she developed after the surgery to implant the port. She still has swelling around the port which is probably causing it to tilt or flip and the swelling is making it hard to tell exactly how much it has flipped. She has been told to put warm compresses on the port site to help decrease the swelling. Because of the continued swelling and incorrect positioning of the port, her chemotherapy oncologist wisely decided to not use the port for infusion but instead gave her chemotherapy through an IV in her arm. Later this week, Ruth/Mom/Grammy is to return to Baylor All Saints where she had the port implanted and the doctor who performed the surgery is going to check the port and see if there is anything that he can do to reposition the port and speed up the healing process.

Thank you for all your prayers. They lift us up and I know Mom's weigh gain and tolerance of the the chemotherapy is because of your prayers and God's intervention.

April 6, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy was supposed to begin chemotherapy today, but her PT/INR level from taking a blood thinner for her atrial fibrillation was too high. She was disappointed as she is ready to get this battle under way. She had not lost any more weight, which is good. She continues to eat food normally as well as receive nutrition through her feeding tube. She is very tired at times which is to be expected. We will try to start chemotherapy next week. Thank you everyone for all your prayers.

April 4, 2011

Today Ruth/Mom/Grammy went for a follow-up visit back to the hospital where she had the surgery to insert her feeding tube and chemotherapy port.  Her feeding tube looks good and, as I said in the last entry, she has already had a meal through the tube. Unfortunately, her chemotherapy port had a hematoma around it which had to be drained. The liquid was sent off to the lab to have it checked out. There was also some swelling around the port. I'm not sure if this will postpone her chemotherapy or not. We will find out later this week.

April 1, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy went to see her dietician, Lisa Hall, at Texas Oncology today. Lisa told her she needs to be drinking 1/2 to 1 can of Boost or Ensure a day. She also ordered her the liquid food/nutrition that will be used to feed her through her feeding tube to keep her weight up during chemotherapy and radiation. As I type this, Kip has already helped Mom to "eat" one can of the "food" through her tube.

After she saw the dietician, Ruth/Mom/Grammy went to see Dr. Nugent, her chemotherapy oncologist. He again said that he thinks she is too old for chemotherapy as she will be the oldest person he has ever treated for cancer. He is very concerned about what the chemotherapy will do to her already weakened body. Unfortunately, the alternative is not very acceptable either. She insisted to the doctor that she really wants to attempt the chemotherapy and that if she cannot handle it, we have the alternative to just do radiation without shrinking the cancer first with chemotherapy. Since Mom insisted she knows what she wants and she wants to fight the cancer, Dr. Nugent finally agreed to help her fight it to the best of his ability. She begins chemotherapy soon, after her port heals a little longer. Please pray for Mom's strength, endurance, and especially her healing.

Marach 28-29, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had surgery on the 28th to insert her chemotherapy port and PEG tube. She did remarkably well during surgery considering she is 85. I am sure all the prayers played a part in making the surgery uneventful and successful. Thank you. She had to stay overnight in the hospital to make sure she didn't run a temperature and that the PEG tube stayed in place. With that accomplished, she is now home and recovering nicely. She is still able to chew and swallow so she is not using the PEG tube at the moment. We hope she never has to use it, but it is there if she needs it.

Next appointment: with chemotherapy oncologist to check the healing process after insertion of her port and hopefully to schedule the beginning of chemotherapy treatment.

THANK YOU for all your prayers and thank you to those of you who have been sending cards to Mom.

March 22, 2011

We met with Mom's radiation oncologist (I love him!) on Tuesday morning. The PET scan confirmed she has T1N1 Stage III cancer of the hypopharynx with 1 involved lymph node. He again went through the options with us, giving us a few new ones to consider.

1) Surgery to remove the tumor and lymph node - NOT recommended because of the damage to the throat/larynx/voicebox

2) Organ Preservation without surgery to get rid of the cancer  - 3 options -
     (CT/RT = Chemotherapy/Radiation)

     1. concurrent CT/RT - chemotherapy and radiation at the same time - most frequently recommended - 65-70% cure rate - most toxic

     2. sequential CT/RT - weeks of chemotherapy followed by weeks of radiation - less recommended - 60-65% cure rate- less toxic that 1.

     3. RT alone - 55-60% cure rate - least recommended, but the least toxic because of no chemotherapy

3) Hospice - Allow the cancer to spread while treating the symptoms but not the disease.

4) Chemotherapy Alone - Attempt to hold the cancer "at bay" to keep it from growing larger.

This doctor, along with the surgeon who did her biopsy, still recommends trying 2) 2. - sequential CT/RT - in mom's case. He said women are usually tougher than men and that although she is "old" and "feeble", he thought we should give it a try. If the chemotherapy is too hard on her, we can always switch to Radiaion alone. It will still cause damage to her neck and throat, but the drug toxicity is not there from the chemotherapy.

So, I asked Mom what SHE wanted to do, and she wants to try 2) 2. - sequential CT/RT - as this wonderful doctor who I LOVE recommends (I already said that, didn't I!). First, she will have surgery to receive a chemotherapy port in her chest to receive the drugs and not have to become a "pin cushion" and a Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy/PEG (feeding) tube to help her get enough nutrients when her throat becomes too sore to swallow food or when the chemotherapy makes her too sick to eat.  After the port heals for about a week, Mom will begin chemotherapy treatments. We still don't know how many days a week or for how many weeks she will receive chemotherapy, but we should find out soon.

CONTINUED PRAYERS PLEASE!!!

March 14, 2011

The visit with the chemotherapy oncologist did not go well. (Please know as you are reading this, that the next blog will let you know that were have already been back to the radiation oncologist whom we LOVE already after only 2 appointments and that we don't care what this doctor says, we are going ahead with chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but more on that later.) Although her cancer (which is squamous cell cancer of the hypopharynx) is a fairly typical kind of cancer, he informed us it is an agressive cancer, not slow growing. Therefore, one lymph node is already involved which makes it Stage III cancer. He also does not recommend surgery to remove the cancer. He then said, " if only you were 40 years younger..." for the first time and repeated it many times during the visit. The throat is also a hard area to treat because of the nutrition issues. He said she needs to spend time with the family discussing how hard the treatments would be on her because many of the patients are unable to eat because of the treatment as well as the cancer. He said Mom is not a good candidate for treatments because of her COPD and atrial fibrillation. She would have to have a feeding tube inserted directly into her stomach to provide nutrients and fluid as she has already lost 5% of her body mass. He said it was not reasonable to put her through too much at her age. He again said that the chemo drugs would be hard on her even if she was 40 years younger and that we have a complicated problem on our hands. He wants to talk to her radiation oncologist again and that he has a "to do" list of things that need to be done and reports he needs to see before he will consider treatment. He said there would be no formal follow-up with him yet and basically I felt he sent Mom home to die. As Kip said, "you're damned if you do and damned if you don't" have treatment. I called the radiation oncologist the same day I heard the audio version of this appointment as I was out of town during spring break and did not attend this appointment in person. We scheduled an appointment with her radiation oncologist and I will tell you more about that in the next blog.

March 11, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had both a PET scan and a CT scan today for planning her radiation therapy. She tolerated both well, but was glad when the procedures were over. Dr. Truelson, her surgeon, called this morning and said that her pathology results were back from her biopsy and that yes, it is squamous cell cancer as he suspected. I guess if you have to have cancer, it's a good cancer to have because it is slow growing and slow spreading which is part of the reason the PET scan already came back clear for all other organs except the larynx and I believe one lymph node on the same side of the neck as the tumor. (We'll double check that next week.)

Thank you for all your prayers as they lift us all up, especially my mom, and we continue to be positive about the final results of the chemotherapy and radiation.

March 10, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy met with her radiation oncologist today. Dr. Barker told her the growth is cancer of the larynx and hypopharynx. They used to treat this type of cancer with surgery and radiation, but in the 1970's studies began to evaluate the use of radiation and chemotherapy instead. This helps preserve the larynx and thus the voice. There are 2 kinds of radiation/chemotherapy regiments - concurrent and sequential. In concurrent, radiation and chemotherapy are given at the same time. This regiment, although it can get better results, can be very toxic and hard on the elderly. In sequential, chemotherapy is given first, followed by radiation at a later time. It is less toxic and the complete regiment lasts longer. Although its results are not quite as positive as concurrent, it still has positive results in shrinking and eradicating the cancer. It is better for someone of mom's age and health so she has decided to go with sequential treatment. We will meet with mom's chemotherapy oncologist next week for confirmation, but Dr. Barker has talked to him and believes sequential will be the regiment of choice.

Future Appointments:
CT scan for planning radiaton treatments
PET scan to make sure the cancer has not spread
Initial visit with chemotherapy oncologist

March 9, 2011

Ruth/Mom/Grammy had surgery to biopsy the growth on her larynx.  She tolerated the surgery well. Dr. Truelson confirmed it looks like a cancerous tumor. He sent a sample of the tissue to pathology. It will take approximately 72 hours for us to get a written pathology report.

March 5, 2011

I begin this blog with some difficulty as many of you know of my previous blog keeping you updated about Jake and his cancer. I am again beginning a blog to keep family and friends updated on the progress of Ruth/Mom/Grammy as now she battles cancer. Here is the sequence of the events so far.

Dec. 9
Initial visit with gastroenterologist due to swallowing problems and feeling of "something" in her throat
Dec. 20
Esophogram (Barium x-ray) to evaluate swallowing
Jan. 3
EGD/Endoscopy (Esophagogastroduodenoscopy)
Jan. 17
Follow-up with gastroenterologist - gastric tract looks okay except doctor sees "something" on the larynx - barium x-ray shows aging of esophagus normal for an 85-year-old - recommends and makes appointment with ENT (ear, nose, and throat) specialist
Jan. 24
Initial visit with ENT - has hearing test (significant age related loss of hearing) and schedules scope of nose and throat
Feb. 7
Scope by ENT - he doesn't see anything (how, I don't know) but I say "she still feels 'something'" and he recommends CT/CAT scan and appointment at Voice, Speech, and Swallowing Clinic to help with age-related swallowing issues
Feb. 21
CT/CAT scan
Feb. 23
Receive call from ENT's office saying "something" did show up on the CT scan on the larynx and it appears to be cancerous as it also involves the lymph nodes.  Recommends and makes appointment with surgeon in Dallas who specializes in cancer of the head and neck
March 3
Initial visit with surgeon - reviews CT scan and does additional scope to view growth on larynx as well as does extensive physical exam of head, neck, throat area. Recommends and schedules biopsy to confirm suspicion that growth is a squamous cell carcinoma. Recommends chemotherapy/radiation treatment route instead of surgery/radiation treatment route as chemotherapy/radiation has the potential for the least amount of trouble with swallowing in the future.

Future Appointments:
Biopsy in Dallas
Initial visit with Radiation Oncologist in Fort Worth
Initial visit with Chemotherapy Oncologist in Fort Worth

We are hopeful that we have caught the cancer fairly early and that it has only spread to the lymph nodes and no other organs. (I imagine a PET scan will eventually be scheduled to check other organs as well.) We were also told that squamous cell cancer is one of the easier cancer types to eradicate as compared with the small cell cancer that Jake had. Please keep Ruth/Mom/Grammy in your prayers. She is in good spirits and ready to tackle the cancer. I will update the blog as often as I have new information to pass along.