Moving Forward Again

Friends to the Rescue
I posted to Facebook asking my network of family and friends for a referral to a radiologist for a second opinion of my scans.  It wasn't long before for a few of my friends reached out to me.  That alone was enough to raise my spirits and made the world of difference emotionally.

I spoke with my friends brother-in-law over the phone this morning on the way to work.  He's a doctor out of San Francisco.  Very nice guy who was genuinely concerned for my well-being.  He had a few great suggestions.

He recommended I have my case reviewed by the Tumor Board.  Being that I'm young, have had surgery already and the primary site was still unknown made me a good candidate.  The Tumor Board is a panel of doctors that review cancer cases to discuss the PET/CT/MRI images, tests or pathology results and past treatments.  They brainstorm and decide on what best course of action would be.  Sounds perfect!  I feel like the more people I have looking at this the sooner it'll come to a resolution.

It also seems to me like my Oncologist and ENT aren't communicating much, if at all.  I asked if he recommended having an Oncologist at the same medical center as my ENT and radiation oncologist and he did.  He said my Oncologist should really be the one spearheading my treatment and if he's at the same medical center as the other doctors he can bang on doors and get answers.  I did some research and I think I found one.  Just have to make an appointment.

Another thing he said I could do is ask my ENT to have the pathology department take another look at my tonsil tissue that was removed.  He said the tissue is usually saved and sometimes the first look doesn't always prove fruitful, but a second look does.  It's worth a shot.  Hopefully my ENT agrees.

So that conversation was pretty awesome.  It gave me some direction and confidence.

Pain in the Throat
However, there's still the fact that I wasn't scheduled to see my ENT until Dec. 1st and I'm still experiencing intense, sharp pain in my throat throughout the day.  It was bad enough last night that I was seriously considering going to the Urgent Care or Emergency Room last night.  Then I did some research.

I found, on the Internet of all places (lol), that pain around the Adam's Apple, which is where I'm experiencing it at the moment, could be caused by acid reflux (which could be caused by stress) or post-nasal drip.  I thought about that and, obviously, I've been stressed lately, especially in the last month or so when I first heard the news that they didn't find the cancer in my tonsils.

I've also been having some post-nasal drip, maybe even during the last couple weeks.  Hmmm.  So lastnight I took some Benedryl before bed.  Will help me sleep at least.  This morning, no difference, but it may take a few days.  So I'm going to take some antihistamine/decongestant over the next few days to see if it goes away.

Enter the Wife
But my wife, on the other hand, is not going to standby and let me suffer.  She could see I was miserable and was in pain.  So she asked if I wanted her to call to try to get me into the ENT earlier.  I was highly doubtful she could.  I had already called and left a voicemail letting them know I was in pain and wanted to be seen sooner.  Maybe they were just waiting to see if I was REALLY in pain and would call back?

I figured it couldn't hurt so I told her to go ahead and give it a shot.  Well, she blew my mind.  In a few minutes she had gotten me an appointment first thing in the morning the very next day!!  I asked her how she got me an appointment so soon?  She told me that unleashed "bitch mode" on them and they got me in.  Wow!  Word of warning out there, don't mess with an Irish woman or her man.  Word of wisdom, if you have cancer, hope you have a spouse that has a fully functioning "bitch mode" available. ;)