Biopsy results

Hey, Ozy.

As someone who was diagnosed and treated for H&N SCC in 2017, I'm a longtime follower of this board. I've never posted publicly because that's not really my thing (so, yes, you might call me a lurker; I prefer 'silent but attentive fellow H&Ner'), but I'm moved to do this now after seeing this post as well as your most recent update about your Tx plan.

I've been following your story since you first shared it —yep, from your first 'Noob' post to the latest, I'm familiar with The Seeing Eye Kid and The Boy. I've been more than a little impressed by how much you were able to accomplish when going through your initial treatment all while also taking care of your husband and then mourning after losing him. I've enjoyed reading about the various menus and meals you concocted pre-, during and post-treatment (thank you for introducing me to the concept of banana split cake!). And, I wonder: Did you decide, in the end, to go for the Vitamix or not? I opted to go for the poor-relation-but-ever-reliable Magic Bullet, myself. Last but far from least, your slightly wacky (in the best way possible) sense of humor (direct Ozy quote: "I was laying in bed singing 'You Never Even Called Me By My Name' by David Allen Coe. Kind of cheered me up.") and, from what I can tell, absolute grace as you've dealt with everything that's come your way continue to inspire me in my own H&N travails and day-to-day.

I want to let you know how very, very sorry I am to hear of this new Dx. I imagine you're hearing in DMs from the many others here who've also been following your situation and who —unlike me— are so very good about providing supportive comments (i.e. @wbcgaruss/Russ, @motorcycleguy/Curt, @SuzJ, @LitlCJdoll/Crystal, @ProustLover, etc.). Please know that I'm pulling for you with everything I've got, too.

I hope that the treatment plan you and your team have lined up is giving you some relief, at least for pain management purposes. I understand that the past months have been particularly rough in that regard.

Meantime, be kind to yourself and to the extent that you're up to it, seize the @#*@ out of the day while it's here.

Sending good vibes and much strength your way. 🧡

ML

For what its worth as a result of my cancer metastasizing into my lungs I too began an immunotherapy treatment plan as part of a clinical trial in Charleston SC. Its an IV bag of Keytruda every 3 weeks and the first 4 visits they gave me 2 shots of a derivative from the HPV vaccine. I’ve now had 2 scans, one every 9 weeks, and there is noticeably less volume of cancer. While this is not a cure it is keeping the cancer at bay and my doctors seem to think that will be the case for at least a couple of years, maybe longer 🤞. Little to no side effects so as I recovered from the radiation/chemo treatments I’m feeling better and better everyday!

Perhaps this therapy will work as well for you as it seems to be for me? I wish you the best!!!