I get by with a little help from my friends . . .

Wow! I am under some pressure now . . .I have started several different blog topics in Word to be "cut and pasted" later into this blog but since I made a big deal here about the grammar, I have to go back and check and recheck and they haven't made it here yet--they will though, I promise. For today though I want to share a couple of quick medical facts . . .

First and foremost, the team agreed with my expert medical opinion that the liver scan did not indicate any cancer but just something random! We are going to rescan in 3 months, but not do anything else (ie biopsy) until then. Yippee! This is great news, it means that it is likely that the cancer has not spread anywhere beyond the head and neck area and SHOULD be very curable with radiation and chemo. In this case, the chemo does not have to kill the cancer cells but just weaken them (if there are even any left that did not get cut out!) so that the radiation can kill them.

So, we met yesterday with the medical oncologist and his team to discuss the chemo regimen. The drug they are going to use is called Cisplatin. It is the only chemo drug for head and neck cancer in combination with radiation that has 3 clinical trials supporting it. The plan is what we expected. 7-8 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week with 5 days of chemo overlapping on weeks 1 and 5. Those will be the long days of my treatment with radiation early in the morning (the radiation part is actually very fast--less than 30 minutes in the clinic) then the chemo infusion, starting at about 9 am and lasting 5-6 hours.

Over the last several weeks I have been doing a lot of research on the drug's side effects and I had/have some particular concerns about ototoxicity (hearing loss). Many of you already know that I have about 70% hearing loss in my left ear as a result of a condition called Menieres disease (lots of the women in my family have this, it is an inner ear condition . . .like motion sickness to the Nth degree, balance issues, spinning, nausea etc . . .sometimes for hours or days at a time and sometimes just for 30 seconds) In a few people it affects their hearing as well--lucky me. I manage it just fine with a tube in my left ear that my ENT injects steroids through a few times a year, and the hearing loss isn't much of an issue except in noisy restaurants or when someone is trying to whisper something to me from the left. But . . . .if the Cisplatin should cause more hearing loss then . . . .problem. After a lot of discussion, we came to the conclusion that it is just going to have to be a leap of faith. Risk and reward so to speak. We are going to do a hearing test prior to beginning the first treatment and another after that first week of chemo and just see what happens. We still don't have a firm time line for beginning the treatment because there is a lot of prep work before the radiation can begin.

First, the radiation oncologist that I was committed to is out indefinitely because of a medical issue of his own, so now I need to meet, and get comfortable with the new guy. Then, they will design the "radiation field" and construct a mask (think hockey goal keeper made of mesh or fencing mask) that gets bolted to the table with my head in it to direct the radiation to just the right spot--I know . . .fun! Add to that, chemo "training day", the wisdom tooth getting pulled, replacing the tube in my left ear, and the overnight hospital stay to place the feeding tube in my stomach, and you can see that it will be a couple more weeks before we are ready to begin. Still may make it that week of July 6th but probably the week after. Then, an 8 week sprint to the finish-plus another 6 -10 weeks of recovery. I don't expect another "medical" update here until next week and my meeting with the radiation oncologist.

Would like to share one more thing . . .of particular note to my high school friends . . .YES, I was this clever in high school . . . but with Brad and John and Pam to compete with who knew?!! Most people who know me, have at some point heard me tell the story of my idyllic childhood . . . Mom, one of 5 kids, Dad ,one of 6, all my aunts and uncles and cousins living close by and totally involved in my life, all 4 of my grandparents alive and spending time with me until I was out of college, graduated in a high school class of 70 people--with at least 50 of the kids I started 1st grade with. Amazing! Well let me go you one better. I graduated from Prince Edward Academy 26 years ago. It has been over a quarter of a century since I have seen these people on a daily basis. Last year, as our 25 year reunion approached, we all waxed a little poetic about how cool it was that we all still stayed in touch, shared Christmas cards, saw each other when we were back in town. Because we all shared this same experience, maybe we take for granted a little bit, just how remarkable it is. . . .but when I mentioned this number to several of my local friends this week . . .they were AMAZED by it. Here is what I want you to know. I have heard from almost 30% of my high school class!! Cards, emails, phone calls, text messages, facebook notes, comments on the blog. 30%!! I am so honored and blessed by that. I have always had amazing friends but there is something about OLD friends, the people who knew you when. I love you guys--thanks for loving me back! (Keith, tell Paige we're thinking of her and give Logan and that beautiful little Michael a big hug for me!!) That's it for today . . .make it a great one!