Since this isn’t a blog about my initial cancer, I’ll make part 2 of the journey short.
After a summer of tests, PET scans, CT Scans, MRIs, x-rays and more biopsies, I finally had surgery in September. They cut from my ear down, then down my neck, up my throat, chin and bottom lip, then lifted up that side of my face to cut the cancer out. They repaired the area by taking tissue and blood vessels from my clavicle area, bringing it up and attaching it to my cheek and roof of the mouth. It was a truly bizarre operation. I spent almost 3 weeks in the hospital as there were some complications before coming home to recuperate. It was a long process (and I never had the chance to actually heal completely before I was diagnosed with this cancer). I was on a liquid, then soft food diet. I was just able to eat some “real” food before I started radiation at the end of November. Radiation on the neck and head is debilitating. The second week into a 7 week period I already had mouth sores which progressed to the point I could only eat broth and even that hurt. Some of my hair was lost, and it looked like I had bad burns on my neck and the right side of my face. For almost 6 weeks all I ate was broth and boost. Slowly I was able to eat soft foods again. I knew that something wasn’t right and kept telling my GP, the radiation oncologist and the surgeon this. They kept telling me that it would just take time, that my recovery was taking longer than most, but that eventually it would be better. It never was, and only 8 months after surgery and 4 months after radiation, the cancer was back. It makes no sense and I believe my surgeon was more surprised than I was by this reality. The margins after surgery were clear, my radiation course was the most I could have without being outside “normal” parameters, and since I don’t smoke or drink heavily I should have been good. But when it comes to cancer, nothing is certain.
So here I am – moving into part 3.