Methinks I'm behind a bit, and I will admit to being somewhat distracted, as well as just plain NOT WANTING TO DEAL WITH IT. But, of course I must, and I will - besides, everyday I see one way or other where someones got it worse, so what have I to gripe about? (Hmmm, guess I could find something - but not right now.) So here's a re-cap thus far...
Simply put, I have been diagnosed with what's called Stage T2 Cancer of the Tonsil. Just one, the right side. It has metastasized to at least one lymph node, but not extensively. Originally they thought they'd just treat it with Radiation therapy and perhaps a few added doses of Chemotherapy. But, after additional tests and a second opinion they decided to remove one tonsil, take some biopsies of the surrounding tissue and back of my tongue.
Who are "they" you might ask. Well, the list is growing, and for every Doctor or Nurse I have dealt with directly, there seems to be a half dozen or so other nurses, technicians, administrators or consulting Physicians also involved. It's all pretty overwhelming. My personal Physician is Dr. Darcel Gilbert, a GP at the Kaiser Clinic here in Lahaina. For the whole Cancer thing, on point we have Dr. Scott Newman, ENT who did the Tonsilechtemy, and is kind of charting the course. His Nurse Cheryl takes care of the getting in and getting out, and all the referrals. #2 on the ENT side is Dr. Song. There's been a couple of other Doctors and their staffs to provide the Ultra sound biopsies, CAT scans, and so forth; who's names MAY be recorded in my notes somewhere, but at the moment I haven't a clue. I believe I mentioned earlier Dr. Sakuri, a GP in Wailuku who assured me that post op was proceeding as it should, and his two ladies who did the quickest EKG I've ever had, and managed to giggle through the whole thing, especially when removing the TAPED leads from my not exactly hairless chest. There have been three Pharmacy staffs (no, one stop shopping is not commonplace here in Hawaii) and several different Labs, with Blood tests and what not. And they say it takes a whole community to raise the child.
OK, so back to THEY... They only took one tonsil out, as it would make the recovery time shorter and with less discomfort, primarily so that they could start the Radiation treatments ASAP. But, in the taking of that one tonsil, they also took out A LOT of the surrounding tissue (without going into the muscle tissue) and a big chunk out of the back of my tongue, and that's why it's as bad as it is, and will take some time to heal.
The good news is that it seems to have been only in the tonsil, and not the surrounding tissue, and the spread to the lymph nodes is minimal, and could possibly mean they won't have to come out. The flip side of all this is, the other option is to operate first, then do Radiation treatments after... still not a 100% guarantee. Well, that little word "operate" is a bit mis-leading. What it really means is, they would have to split my Jaw, remove the string of lymph nodes, and part of the neck muscle, then do reconstructive surgery, and that really is the short version. Well, it wasn't too difficult to go with the current plan... which was to remove the tonsil, to get the best idea of how to proceed with the Radiation treatments.
Which I find out about Tuesday. Till then, I'm just on recovery mode. Oh, and getting prepared (mentally and physically) for the whole treatment process. Again, for right now, it's proposed to be just Radiation and not any Chemo, which also should be easier to take. And that Folks is it for now. Mahalo (that's THANKS) for everyones well wishes and encouragement. It is appreciated and VERY therapeutic. I'm doing "fine." And in case I didn't mention it recently - it's not sympathy I'm looking for, hardly as it's pretty clear this is something I've done to myself, and I'm sure not gonna wine about that. But compassion and understanding, that's priceless, and I am grateful for all I've received.
Aloha (and yes, that's still Hello & Goodbye), Ron Wall
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