Physical Lab Results

I got the lab results back yesterday for the blood work for my physical.  All tests came back normal.  Reminds me of a Smog test and finding out everything is within spec.  Guess I have that going for me, right!

Finding the Right Doctors and Hospital

I've been trying to find the best doctors and hospitals in the area that are covered by my insurance.  Wow, is it tough.  I've been satisfied with my ENT so far but wanted to have options.  He said he was fine referring me to someone else and recommended a doctor at a local university hospital.  I was like, "OK.  Let's give it a shot."  So his office gave me a name and I got an appointment.  Then I started doing research.

This university hospital advertises on their website that they're a top rated ENT hospital as reported by U.S. News Best Hospitals, but that was in 2008.  OK, well what about now?  So I went to U.S. News website and looked it up.  Not doing so well now, at all.  OK, so what are good hospitals in my area.  None, apparently.  I also found Hospital Safety Score and found most of the hospitals in my area only garnered a "C".

I also did research on my doctors on a couple different websites at the top of Google results.  To put it simply I wasn't exactly impressed with what I found.  The reviews were mostly unflattering, to say the least.  I took it with a grain of salt knowing that most people who are going to take the time to find a site to post, register and write the post have something negative to say.  Still, I wanted to see if I could find better.

I expanded my search to local metropolitan areas and found a university hospital in a major city that was rated #4 nationally for ENT and #5 nationally for cancer.  That got my hopes up.  So I checked my insurance and found two doctors that were in-network that were affiliated with that hospital.  One of them was the Professor and Chair of the Head and Neck Surgery Department.  I got pretty excited, that was until I did research on him.  Again I found reviews that were less than flattering.

During this process I received a call from a friend and co-worker.  We discussed what I was going through and he provided some encouraging words, stories and offered assistance in whatever was needed to help me battle this illness.  He is also one of my bosses and told me they would be willing to work with my schedule to get me the care necessary.  I just have to take this moment to say how huge of a relief it is when going through something like this that you have the support of your employer and know they've got your back.  Huge relief and gratitude.

He told me of his wife and her doctor and how good he was and that they've even become best friends over the years.  He said that I could send doctors names his way and he would look into them for me.  So I did but he said that he wasn't familiar with them.  Then it occurred to me, why not just see him.  I did some research and found out he had an office nearby and was "in-network".  I asked my friend if he was taking new patients and could see me and he said he was.  Long story short, I have an appointment to see him next Wednesday.

This doctor is an Oncologist, not an ENT like my other doctor, but the ENT he said he refers out to, based on the research I've done, is highly regarded AND is affiliated with a hospital that received an "A" by Hospital Safety Score.  So, ya, I'm excited.

pH Strips

The pH strips arrived Saturday and everyone in my house tested.  Me and my boys were all around 5.5 to 5.75 which is acidic.  7.0 is neutral.  My wife tested and of course she's 8.0.  Probably attributed to the fact that she's vegan.

So I immediately began drinking 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 tsp. baking soda water as recommended by this article.  I kinda expected this to be a struggle of trying things and not getting results then trying something else.  However, this morning when I woke up and tested my pH was at 6.75!  Didn't expect results this fast.  Awesome!

Tentative Pet Scan

So I received a call from the imaging center just moments ago, pleasantly surprised to hear from them on a Sunday.  I have a tentative appointment for early Friday morning.  Not as soon as I'd like, but I let her know to call me if they get a cancellation earlier.  She said they would.

Just went over some questions and what I needed to do to prepare for it dietary wise.  She was very professional and thorough.  I always appreciate that.  One step forward.

Change In Diet and Daily Routine

So immediately after I was diagnosed I began doing research and, along with the help of my wife who is well versed in holistic and alternative healing, began implementing changes in my diet and daily routine.

I switched from drinking coffee to green tea.  The catechins are the anti-cancer components in green tea and I read that you don't want to brew the tea at boiling point because it destroys them at that temperature.  A comprehensive study details catechin content results based on brewing temp and time and the sweet spot is around 176 degrees for 20 minutes.  The longer it brews, up to 80 minutes, the more catechins are present but who wants to wait that long to drink their tea.  So I'm using a thermometer to microwave the water to that temp (just over 2 min) and then steep the tea.  I also read catechins are better preserved with vitamin C.  They recommend adding citrus to your green tea, the best being lemon.  So I'm doing that as well.

I'm drastically reducing if not wholly eliminating refined sugars, alcohol, red and barbecued meat since they all contribute to cancer growth.  I'm using the anti-cancer oil my wife blends.  She also told me that cancer thrives in an acidic environment so I should try to get my body chemistry more alkaline.  She ordered me test strips to determine my pH and recommended and eat more fruits and vegetables that aren't acidic.  A quick Google search provided other ways to become more alkaline.

Apart from that I'm working hard at being positive and reducing negativity from my life.  I'm continually open to all possibilities and options to beating this thing.

I'll close with a quote my wife texted me in the middle of the night..."A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles."  I am grateful for everyday that God gives me.

My Wife

So after I made my last post I was pretty shaken.  Luckily I had the sense to talk to my wife and she grounded me.

She told me that there are many factors to surviveablility besides the "Stages".   She reminded me to stay positive and to visualize my body being cancer free.  She said she believed people who are given the challenge of a life threatening disease are provided the opportunity to "Level Up".  To advance spiritually and gain a higher perspective.  She reminded me to allow my higher power to guide me through this ordeal.

She is the most kind, positive person I know.  I'm blessed to have her in my life.

Now I've got to go to bed and visualize a cancer free me.

Stage ??

So, searching for some hope, I thought I would look up the prognosis for SCC.  I was happy to find out it was "Excellent" until I realized it was for SCC found in the skin.

So I decided to look up the Stages.  Bad news...from what I've read looks like I'm Stage 2 or 3.  F**king awesome!  Holding out hope for official prognosis after Pet Scan but it looks like the news keeps getting worse and worse.

I stayed home sick today because on top of this I got a cold.  The doctor's office sent in the order for the Pet CT today and today would have been a great day to do it.  Guess I should have called them and been pushy.  That's not how I am but I may have to get that way.

Game Plan

Just got off the phone with my ENT.  Wasn't expecting a call til tomorrow.  Nice to see he's taking this as seriously as I am.

He reaffirmed the diagnosis from Monday and outlined a game plan.  I first need to get a full body Pet CT to try to identify the site of origin.  If that doesn't come up with anything then there's a tag on my tonsil that he suspects.  So we'll have to wait and see what the Pet CT turns up.

Once the scan results come back he want's to do surgery ASAP to remove the tumor and perform a neck dissection to take out the lymph nodes on the right side of my neck.  He said if it's the tonsil and a neck dissection it will take about 4 hours of surgery and a 2-3 day hospital recovery.

I asked him how many of these he's done and he says he does one about every other month.  He also said that if I don't feel comfortable with him performing the surgery he's more then willing to hand me off to Loma Linda's Head and Neck team.  I think I might talk to them just to get a second opinion and to feel them out.

On one hand I like that he want's to get on top of this.  On the other hand it's all happening so quickly.  It may be much because it's so fresh, but maybe after a few days I'll be more eager.  I don't know.  Just trying to keep calm and be positive.

Diagnosed With SCC

So, on Monday, August 22nd, I went in to get a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) with ultrasound of a lump on my neck.  It's just under the jaw on the right side of my neck.  I discovered this lump July 20th while getting ready for work that morning.  I didn't think much of it at first since I had no pain thinking it was an infection.  So I scheduled a physical for a month out since I was due for one and thought I would just wait til then to find out what it was.

Well, my concern got the best of me so I went to the Urgent Care the next day.  The doctor thought it could be an infection though I wasn't experiencing any other symptoms.  He gave me a 10-day course of antibiotics and told me that if it doesn't go away by then they'll to a CT scan.

Again I didn't want to wait around so I contacted my dentist thinking I might have an infection in my mouth or jaw.  I scheduled an appointment for that Monday morning, July 25th.

She did X-rays and an exam but couldn't find anything that would be causing this in my mouth.  She suggested I see an ENT.  So I looked up an ENT in the area and scheduled an appointment for that Wednesday.

On Wednesday, July 27th the ENT doctor examined my throat with an endoscope.  He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary internally.  He performed a FNA biopsy and ordered a CT scan of my throat with contrast.  I scheduled the CT scan for Tuesday, Aug. 2.  He told me to continue taking the antibiotics prescribed by the Urgent Care doctor.

On August 6th,  four days after having gone to get my CT scan, I received an email from the imaging company saying my results were available.  I logged into their website.  I pulled up my report and was excited to see the first few things were "normal" but realized that was just the beginning of the laundry list.  Eventually I got down to the bad part.  It said two of my lymph nodes were necrotic.  Didn't sound good but I didn't know exactly what that mean't.

I began doing research and was starting to believe that I might have lymphoma.  So I began researching that.  Needless to say it was pretty depressing, but I tried to remain optimistic until I spoke with my ENT doctor to get his professional opinion.  I thought to myself that if this is cancer that I'm relatively young and healthy and overall take pretty good care of myself.  If it is cancer, I can beat this.

So I called my ENT on Monday but they were closed.  I believe I left a message but then called again the next day and got someone.  I let them know I was interested in speaking with my doctor about my results.  They said that he has the results and would call me once he had a chance to review them.

I believe it was later on in that day he got back to me.  We had a conversation about the CT scan and said it really didn't show anything significant except the lymph nodes.  He said the biopsy he took was non-diagnostic and ordered another by another doctor that would do one with ultrasound to make sure they get the center of the mass.  He said if that came back negative for cancer then he would put me on a stronger antibiotics.  That gave me some hope that maybe this could be something else.

So, I kinda put my worries on the back burner til then.  No sense in worrying about something you know nothing about.

Well, Monday, August 22nd came.  Still holding on to the hope that this was something easily cured with antibiotics.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.  The doctor performed two FNAs and said she would be right back with the results.  I didn't actually want them that fast being that I had to drive into work that day.  I was hoping to get them the next day when I worked from home so I could process any bad news in a safe environment.  On the other hand I was so positive that this was nothing that I just wanted to get it over with.

She came back in a few minutes and let me know that the results came back positive for Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC).  I was kind of in shock at first and didn't really react much.  OK, I said, now what?  She said she wants to take a couple more samples to send out to the lab for more detailed results.  Once they get back in they'll send them to the referring ENT doctor and he'll contact me with a plan of action.  My wife and I asked a few more questions.  Then I just wanted to get out of their and on with my day.  It was going to be a long one.

I cried on and off on the way to work.  Of course I had to tell my boss because he knew I was going to be in late to go to this appointment and he asked.  Broke down then too.  I fought through that day tearing up from time to time in front of my co-workers and trying to duck out away from them to cover my sorrow.  After everyone left from my office I cried again, a lot.  I wrote my sister and brother an email and brought them up to speed.  I had to email them because I know if I had tried to call them I wouldn't be able to a conversation without choking up.

I was hoping I could put off telling my older son for a few days until I had gained some composure.  Unfortunately for me he asked me how the biopsy went before he went to bed.  I told him and was able to keep my composure pretty well.  He handled the news solemnly but with hope.

The next day I called my ENT.  I was told he has my results on his desk but won't be in until Friday.  They said they would have him call me as soon as he's had a chance to review them.  I didn't want to wait around for that either so I called an Oncologist's office the next day to try to get an appointment.  They didn't pick up so I left a voicemail.

I feel like I need to be more aggressive than cancer and get on top of this.  Besides, doing something makes me feel like I'm in the fight.  I will not give up on this.  I've always said that if I ever get a serious illness or injury that I'll fight my way through it.  I plan to keep my word, not only for myself but for my family.

I haven't told my younger, adolescent son yet.  I'm dreading that conversation.  I don't want his life to change.  I want it to be normal.  But things are going to change and he's going to see it.  I want him to know what's going on and be able to ask questions and know that he'll still be taken care of.

I decided to write this blog foremost to help me emotionally and mentally.  I've journaled before and it helps me to get things out and see them objectively, to process them and to gain direction.  I'm making them public so that others can read them and maybe gain something from them.  Whether it's inspiration, hope, information or even entertainment.  We're all destined to die, but I'm going to fight every inch of the way trying to live.