In August 2012, my family noticed I was coughing off and on. I also had some pressure on my chest. After a couple weeks, I went to my family doctor. They took an x-ray and all looked good. The family doctor gave me some antibiotics thinking I had a slight case of congestion. He mentioned I may also have acid reflux. After taking the medicine, I still felt no difference. Now, it is early September. It was time to go to another doctor. I went to my ears nose and throat specialist. The doctor said it sounded like acid reflux. The doctor told me to take some medicines for acid reflux for about a week. If I did not feel better, I was supposed to go back to the doctor. After a week, I still did not feel better. I went back to the doctor and he ordered a barium swallow test. The results came back showing a bulge in my esophagus area. He told me to go see my Gastroenterology.
We went to the GI doctor and he ordered an endoscopy and a biopsy. The results came back inconclusive. So the next test was a CT. The results showed a definite mass and bulge in the esophagus. Then, they order me another endoscopy with an ultrasound and biopsy of the esophagus and lymph nodes, this test was performed in the hospital. A few days later, we went into the GI doctor and he gave us the results. On October 11, 2012, unfortunately, it was not the results we wanted to hear. He told Kathy and I that I had a malignant cancer of the esophagus. The type of cell I have is the squamous cell. He thought it was rare because squamous cells are found in people that smoke or around 2nd hand smoke a lot, in which I am not.
The following doctors were seen: I had to have a port put in my upper right artery, then I started my chemo treatments, then I went to see a surgeon and the surgeon said my cancer was not operable, next doctor visit was the radiologist. The radiologist said that my cancer was to spread in my esophagus since it was from the top to clear down to the tip of my stomach and I was not a candidate for radiation. So I continue my chemo treatments which I had 5 of and then I had a PET Scan done, which showed some of the lymph nodes had shrunk and some grew. So, radiation with chemo was my only option at this point. They schedule me for 28 days of proton radiation and changed my chemo medication and how I get it. Furthermore, before starting my radiation treatments, I had a feeding tube placed in me. They wanted me to eat through the mouth as long as I could. While I was in the hospital in March of 2013 and they removed my port because they thought it was infected. Even though it wasn’t infected but it had migrated over to a small vein instead of in the main artery. I had my 28 radiation treatments and I graduated on April 5, 2013. That felt GREAT!!!! I had my GI Endoscope done on the 8th of May and the Dr. doing the Endoscope said things looked great but still had to wait to have my PET Scan on the 20th of May. This scan was the big one it told me how the radiation and chemo worked. Praise the Lord it did fantastic. The doctor said they saw no cancer at all!!! They told us I would get a 3 month check-up with a PET Scan for about a year or so then it would go to 6 months then eventually it would be once a year for 5 years. If the PET Scan showed I stayed clear of cancer for 5 years then they will say I am cancer FREE.
I went to my check-up on the August 19, 2013 and I had my 3 month PET scan. After the scan I went to the doctors to hear the results. Well, unfortunately it wasn’t the results we wanted to hear. The test showed that even though my original cancer was still totally clear (thank you Lord) I have a spot on my left lymph node up between my collar bone and my heart area. It is like if you put your hand on your chest when you say the pledge it is in that area. Then it showed an area up in my left side of my neck. I had a biopsy done in the lymph node. It came back cancer so my radiologist is going to treat both areas and also treat two other areas in the neck that have lymph nodes because he feels they are probably cancer also.
This time the treatment is going to be a little different because it also deals with the jaw/neck area. I am going to have an intravenous chemo given to me once a week for 5 weeks. They are going to just put an IV in my arm instead of putting a port in since it will only be 1 time a week for 5 weeks. We found out they can only give the IV that the Chemo will be going through in the area of the arm between your wrist and your elbow. It has to do with the fat content in your body. Then I will be given a pill that also has chemo in it and I will take two pills in the morning and two pills at night for 25 days only on the days that I have radiation so mainly Mon- Fri. Then I am going to have a different type of radiation then last time. I had proton radiation the first time around but this time I am going to have IMRT True Beam 2 that stands for (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy True Beam 2). This radiation will also be able to pinpoint the precise location of the cancer and beam straight to it taking less chance of hurting my spinal cord. Plus this type of radiation is used more on patients with neck and head areas. The doctor said my saliva gland will be affected so I will need to drink a lot of fluids to keep my mouth moist. They are planning on 28 treatments of radiation starting on September 10, 2013.
We are praying that this is going to kill all of the cancer because each time a person goes in for radiation even though it is in a different area than before it takes a long term toll on the body. So let’s kick butt again and make it the last time for chemo or radiation.