Diagnosed last Monday (Squamous Cell -throat cancer)

Chefdaddy said:

Hi Hondo
Great to hear from
Hi Hondo

Great to hear from you again!

I just had a little scare while shopping at the local grocery store and thought I was going to pass out. Started feeling dizzy and weird all over so we headed home and I checked my blood sugar and it had jumped to 374. Since removing my lymph node and the several times I've been in the hospital since, they have not been able to get my blood sugar under control.
Before they released me last week they had switched me from one type of insulin to another. I just got off the phone with my ENT physician at the hospital and they just changed the dosage along with the amount for the "each meal" injection. They told me to have a glass of juice nearby in case they were off on the amount.....Gee, thanks guys lol

I'm so blessed to have all of you here to support me, thank you for all your support and prayers.

Chefdaddy Mike

Skiffin16 said:

Posting
No worries on the posting, been there done that. I've written long replies before, only to post it and it's not there and I can't remember what I posted..LOL.

Glad you are doing well and any information I can share or contribute I more than generously will do.

Tim (Hondo) hope all is going well with you and your wife. How's your son doing....? Let me know when you make it back to Tampa again, we'll do dinner at Shells again if you like.

John

Chefdaddy said:

Hi Hondo,
If you read my
Hi Hondo,

If you read my message to John (Skiffin 16) you will see the kids and my "new" plan.
One of the first places I would like to travel to is your area. It's been 29 years since I was working there for a few weeks and I have never forget the awesome hospitality from all the locals and I have really missed those Po'boys from Winn Dixie!

Have a blessed day brother

Your friend

Chefdaddy Mike

Skiffin16 said:

Making Your Plans
Keep making those plans and staying positive for the future....

Boudin is great, at least what I've had. Everyone makes it the same only different, LOL...

Where are you in your treatment, it sounds like my treatment was very much similar to what you are going thru now. For me the Chemo wasn't really too bad at all. With one exception and it's a very important one...stay hydrated. I let myself become slightly dehydrated during the second round of Chemo. Boy that only takes once to never do it again. I felt bad, really bad. All I wanted to do was sleep, I felt so bad. The more I slept, the less I drank, the worse I felt.

When I went in a few days later to have the pump removed, I told them how bad I had been feeling. The nurse asked have you been drinking ebough fluids. I said, well I've been trying to, she quickly got on me, "If you're trying to, you haven't been drinking enough".

LOL, they ran two bags of fluids through me. Then I made another mistake... I felt so good, I stopped and picked up some Black Beans and Rice up on the way home. Big mistake, I paid for that for a few days I think...LOL. Let's just say, they didn't agree with me..at all....live and learn.

The radiation was the worse as for feeling bad. I hated having to be strapped down with "The Mask". I had been dredding that during the entire nine weeks of Chemo before I started the radiation.

My chemo doctor is/was awesome, she told me if there was anything I was going through, just let her know, she had something for it....

So she gave me a prescription for Xanax to help with the anxiety once the days of radiation came. I took one each of the first few days, but by evening I was zonked. So I started pinching them in half. That lasted a few more days, then by the following week, I didn't need them any longer.

I never felt anything really during the actual radiation. I felt a dryness and a little discomfort a few hours later. I drove myself to all of my radiation treatments and that wasn't a problem.

I guess the last 2 weeks or so and the following 3 weeks after radiation was the worse. Raw throat, very painful just to swallow water. I survived off of water, Ensure Plus and DelMonte Peaches in the mason jars....

LOL, I thought that since I couldn't really taste anything that I would try the unsweetned peaches..LOL, I could definitely tell the difference.

I lost all of my taste for several months about three weeks into the radiation and several weeks after. During that time even water was nasty, it tasted like sweat.

I have a lot of my taste back now, sweet was the longest to regain and I still don't have much, but it's improving. Improvements aren't measured daily, it's more like every few months I'll notice something tastes better than it did the last time I tried it.

Anyways, I hope this gives you a little insight and and will be a positive insight...you can do it.

Just remember everyone is different, I didn't have it nearly as bad as others I have read about. I just kept think that and being positive...faith, family and friends.

I have and still have a huge support network. My wife included about 100 friends and family on a weekly status of my updates that she would sent out. It was awesome to hear from so many people pulling for me....you have that here.

God Bless and Keep us posted of your progress....

John

Chefdaddy said:

Heh there Big Daddy
Heh there Big Daddy Hondo!

How are you doing?

Tampa sounds good too, I know my kids would love everything the southeast has to offer, especially the great eats there.

My daughter and I stopped for a bite to eat today and I had my first full meal! It was a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup and it went past the angry throat with few problems and surprised the heck out of my stomach. The bad part was quickly realizing that the PEG tube and the soup were fighting for space and it was a battle that went on for hours! lol It was the first meal in weeks.

I'm still looking for the pictures to send you of the kids.


Your friend

Mike

Skiffin16 said:

Thrush
I honestly had it very easy from what I had anticipated. It definitely wasn't something that I'd wish on anyone or want to have to go through again, but I'll do what I have to do if that time ever comes again.

I didn't really have problems with my teeth, gums or mouth. That's still a fear as I've never really had great teeth. I have a mouth full of fillings two teeth that have been pulled the last few years and a root canal and crown. I'm glad that I still have my teeth, and really dread going through any of that. It was never really even mentioned to me about all of the possible side effects after radiation until after radiation....

My radiologists just feel everyone is different and we'll deal with what is needed when and if the time comes.

The only illnesses that I endured during all of the treatments were the slight de-hydration.

I did have a reaction to the combination of Amifostine and Radiation at about 28 days into the 35 days of treatment. I started getting really high fevers, like 102.7. I had those two nights in a row and really fought to keep the fever down. Then during the week-end and no treatments I didn't have a fever. The next Monday after the Amifostine shot and radiation that evening my temperature dropped to 96.7 then all the way to 102.8.

I told them they needed to figure something out. I wasn't doing that anymore.. My body was really stressed from that extreme chill, my left arm was aching, and I was concerned that I was really stressed. Anyways, we quit the Amifostine those last few days and I never had another fever.

If you already have had your tonsils out, that's actually about the most sever pain that I had. During the two weeks after the tonsils were out, and about that same intensity the last few weeks on each side of finishing radiation.

I wasn't in much pain other than when trying to drink, eating was out of the question for me. I had a few different pain meds that helped.

What worked best and lasted longer was Percocet Tablets. I had these for my port and enough left that occasionally I'd take one at night to help get some good rest. I also had a solution of thick liquid meds called Larry's Solution #2. I had all of those caines in it...LOL, but it lasted about 10 minutes or so, enough to choke down some water and Ensure Plus; to knock the edge off of pain longer during and after I'd dissolve a Percocet in a 1/4 cup of water and drink that.

When my Percocets ran out, my chemo doctor ordered my some Roxanol (liquid Morphine). I tried that a few times and it made me really upset to my stomach. So I asked her if she could give me another prescription of Percocets. Those lasted me until I didn't need them any longer.

My neck did start peeling about four weeks into the radiation, but not sever. It was more like a bad sunburn. It dried out, cracked and peeled, but wasn't raw. I have seen some that was raw and seeping.

My biggest asset was my chemo doctor, she was awesome. She always told me no matter what, I was going through, there was something that could help relive the pain or illness.

During the first few days of chemo I took a pill called Emend. It's expensive, but I never got sick once from the chemo.

Well actually I take that back. When I was getting close to treatment again, I'd feel sick just thinking about it, although I never got sick from it, LOL. You know when you eat something bad, just the thought of it later makes you sick feeling. That was me and chemo.... Anyways, I was fishing with a friend once and he kept talking about my chemo, how was it, what it felt like, etc.... well finally I had to tell him to shut up, and Ohhh and BTW, can you pull over now so I can throw up LOL....sorry for the visual.

Sorry if I paint a bad picture, but in reality for me, I was very lucky. I hope that you also endure and hold up as well.....stay positive, retain your sense of humor (which for me is huge). I would tell everyone, well I mean after all, other than having cancer, I'm in perfect health...LOL.

I honestly believe that was a big plus in getting me through my ordeal. I was in good health, no drugs, cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar are all good. My humor is intact, my faith, family and friends are in order and on the ready when called upon. What else could I do to prepare myself for battle....I'm packin. You be the same way, kick butt, retain some humor, and call in those favors.

John