Hi folks,
My brother Brad’s cancer is worse than we thought. Now that the surgeon was finally able to get in the larynx with a scope he found that the entire larynx is full of cancer. He has Squamous Cell Carcinoma but so far there are no signs of spreading past the larynx. He is presently undergoing massive radiation treatment and heavy chemotherapy. He will loose all of his body hair along with being quite ill. If they deem surgery necessary he will loose his entire voice box so he may be facing a having a stoma installed. They are at this time inserting a feeding tube.
Brad said to pass along to all of you his thanks for the thoughts and prayers. He is very grateful for them as they help lift his spirit. Brad is staying very optimistic, as am I, and his faith is very strong.
My best wishes are heading your way. My Mother was taken by cancer, now my oldest sister is in hospice with it. But both of them lived for years, happily, after first being diagnosed.
Just like many other situations … one day at a time, make the most of each minutes and don’t hesitate to do whatever you want to do!
That sucks. I have been whining but think I will quit now. Our prayers go out for you and your brother.
They have give me some pretty good stuff to counter the nausea. It should be available to him as well. The radiation or chemo alone are pretty draining but both at once would have me wanting to sleep more than anything.
I will be happy to let you have my email to give to your brother so we can commiserate about chemo together. It has helped me to have a friend or two that are going through it to whine with. I had a round of radiation treatments, too and am looking at another round in a couple of weeks. If they hit me any harder with chemo, I would have to stay in the bone marrow transplant ward to avoid infection so I have an idea what he is going to go through. It may not be as bad as it sounds.
Eric, my Dad had that. They weren’t so good at measuring it back then. He went into surgery expecting to have a tumor removed and came out missing his larynx and his voice box. It was really tough on him and difficult for everybody who loved him, but he survived, learned how to speak without a voice box, got to meet a few more grandchildren, and was grateful for every extra year he got.
Medical science has advanced a long way since then and I’m guessing Brad will benefit greatly from that. He’s certainly in my prayers.