Cancer: The Prequel

First, let me say "thank you" to everyone who is leaving comments on the blog, e-mailing me and Vic, and sending messages and wall posts and "likes" via Facebook—your support is helping us stay positive and strong!

Now, on to my next blog entry. One of the trends we've seen a lot of in movies these days is the prequel, where you find out how Wolverine or Darth Vader or James T. Kirk got their start, and it occurred to me that many of you don't know how Vic's cancer got its start.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away—no, wait. That's been used before. ;-)

OK, so, last year, when Vic "died," the paramedics had a really hard time intubating him, and the doctors said his throat would be sore and he would be hoarse for a while. So when people started asking him earlier this year if he'd been sick because his voice was a little hoarse, we kind of chalked it up to that. But still, he was having problems in the neck area and consulted an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist.

First, there was the swollen area on the side of his neck. "Ah, that's a clogged spit valve," said the ENT. "Suck on some hard candies, take a million Tylenol a day and massage it, and that'll go away." So he did, and so it did.

Then there were the headaches. "Ah, you grind your teeth," said the ENT. "Wear your bite guard, and the headaches will go away." So he did, and so they did.

Then there was the trouble swallowing, and the feeling that something was lying on the back of his tongue. The ENT had no remedy for that, but he looked down Vic's throat and didn't see anything—no redness, no swelling, no growth. "Trouble swallowing" is a fairly vague symptom that could have a lot of causes, and if you watch TV medical shows (like I do), you know the old adage "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." So Vic waited to see if it would go away or get worse.

Then he started bleeding from his throat (like a nose bleed, but, you know, from the throat). Now me, I watch movies. I know when you bleed from the throat it can only be two things: tuberculosis and cancer. And I know tuberculosis is still with us today, but given that we aren't living in the 19th century, it seemed like a remote possibility. So when Vic got in to see the ENT, and the ENT did a laryngoscope and said, "Oh, yeah, that's cancer," I wasn't surprised.

So then the ENT took some samples and sent in some biopsies and, well, you know the rest. Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader.

[roll credits]

So, just a peek at the week ahead:

• Monday: Meet with the chemotherapy doctor. Determine time for chemo on Wednesday. Call the radiation people. Determine when radiation can start--it might be Wednesday, but it all depends on what time the chemo starts.
• Tuesday: Appointment free, or maybe meet with the radiation people, depending on what time chemo is on Wednesday.
• Wednesday: Chemo. BOO! HISS! But on the other hand, YEA!!! Get started knocking out this beast! Maybe radiation—depending on what time the chemo is.
• Thursday: Almost certainly radiation.
• Friday: Radiation.

Thanks again for your continued support. You are wonderful family and friends.