DAY 450 - Day 353 in Recovery Paradise

Have been following the tonsil-cancer-support@googlegroups.com blog and there seems to be a never-ending flow of other souls coming down the long hard road of dealing with tonsil cancer. Lots of people in their 50's being affected. Must be a connection there. Perhaps it was the lifestyle of the 70's?

Had a CT Scan last Monday - but no posted results. I am hoping it is just as a benchmark for my schedule to have them every 6 months for the next 4 years. I still have a constant sore throat, but my sinus issues seem to be going away. I was free of throat issues there for a few months and it seems to have come back within the past two months. I have grown used to it, so I don't think about it much. There is another guy at my work that is a brain cancer survivor and another young guy at my work who just went through a testicular cancer scare this past week.

The biggest gift I received from this experience is to place a better perspective on what is really important and I can assure you it is not "things"...although I admit, guiltily, I did delight in treating myself to repainting my 2006 PT Cruiser the color I always wanted for my birthday. My renewed and re-energized goal is to be a better husband, better father, better brother, better friend, better person to those around me.

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed......
Albert Einstein

Song of the Day: Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven

DAY 431- Day 334 in Recovery Paradise

PET results

To:

Robert L Welton

From:

NATHALIE TUYET-NGOC NGUYEN MD

Received:

8/5/09 4:07 PM

Dear Mr. Welton,

Below is PET/CT scan result. All looks favorable. Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Regards,

Nathalie T. Nguyen, M.D.
Radiation Oncology


PET/CT

** HISTORY **:
61-year-old man with a history of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma (head and neck) status post chemoradiation completed October 2008.

** FINDINGS **:
DOSE: 14.3 mCi FDG (2-fluorine-18-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose) ADM: IV

Comparison is made with 06/15/2008. The fasting blood glucose was 119 mg/dl.

Approximately one hour after injection of the radiopharmaceutical, the patient was imaged from the top of the brain to just beyond the inguinal region in 7 bed positions. For each bed position, a
four-minute emission scan was acquired. A CT scan of the same regions was performed. Please note that the CT portion of this study is a relatively low dose multi-slice scan without IV
contrast, intended only for attenuation correction and anatomic correlation of PET data. It is not an independent diagnostic study with respect to the clinical indications. Data were analyzed as a
whole body rendering using cinematic display and in the transaxial, sagittal, and coronal planes for slice-by-slice review.

Physiologic FDG distribution is seen within the brain. The two intensely hypermetabolic lesions in the left tonsil and the left superior jugular lymph node seen on the comparison PET scan are no longer identified. There is asymmetric low grade increased FDG activity about the left side of the neck, characteristic of chronic post radiation inflammatory changes rather than neoplastic disease. Distribution of FDG within the remainder of the head is unremarkable.

There are no suspicious hypermetabolic foci within the axillae, the thorax, abdomen, pelvis, with visualized portion of the musculoskeletal system. Normal FDG excretion is seen within the
genitourinary system.

** IMPRESSION **:
Foci of abnormal FDG activity are not identified that would suggest residual squamous cell carcinoma. Minor chronic post radiation inflammatory changes are suggested in the left side of
the neck.

Woooooooo Hoooooooo

DAY 430 - Day 333 in Recovery Paradise

Had my first PetScan in a year last Sunday at 7am at Kaiser Hospital. This is a test to see if the cancer cells have returned. With a PetScan you first have an injection of a very small amount of a radioactive drug. The amount of radiation is very small. It only stays in the body for a few hours. Depending on which drug you have, the radioactive drug will travel to particular parts of your body. The most common drug is fluorine 18, also known as FDG-18. This is a radioactive version of glucose. I should know the results this week.

I am scheduled for a CTScan on Monday the 17th, at 8am at the same hospital. CT scanning combines special x-ray equipment with sophisticated computers to produce multiple images or pictures of the inside of the body.

I have had three visual checks of my mouth, tonsils and throat and everyone said it looked fine. I, however, have had this pestering sore throat for about two months that just won't go away. That is exactly how this whole thing began over a year and a half ago. I am concerned, but will know soon. Am hoping for good news.

When I was down (but not for the count) last year, I had mentioned to my sister that I had regretted not having gone on a hot air balloon ride. For my birthday last year, she got me a certificate for a Hot Air Balloon Ride with Up & Away Balloon rides over the Napa Valley. I have had it on my wall for a year, waiting for the opportunity and good health to give it a go. We now have our trip scheduled for August 16th. I should have my PetScan results back by then. It will be a fantastic trip no matter what.

DAY 416 - Day 319 in Recovery Paradise

Saw my radiation Oncologist for the first time since I ended treatment. She was out of maternity leave, so I missed the regular visit normally scheduled after treatment has ended. She sprayed this horrible numbing spray up both my nostrils and down my throat so she could use the scope to check out the healing process in my throat and to scan for any signs of returning tumors...she called them "masses". Having someone look down your throat with a tube and a light inserted through your nose is very odd indeed. The good news is that she didn't see anything other than a very sore throat that seems to be shedding skin like a sunburn.

She scheduled a CT and PET scan to insure that no cancer has returned. She said that the PETSCAN (the one that is full of radiation) would be just the one, but that we would do CT (cat)Scans every few months for the next year or two. I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be ok.

DAY 380 - Day 283 in Recovery Paradise

I encountered an old guy in a wheelchair on the street the other day. Lise and Sarah and I were leaving her ballet studio and walking back to our car. Coming toward us was this man in a wheelchair. Disheveled, dressed poorly, and obviously handicapped, he was weaving back and forth trying to get the attention of everyone that was on the same side of the street as he. We thought he might be panhandling. Sarah stepped out of his way and walked behind Lise. He was obviously trying to say something to them. I stepped up to him and said "Can I help you?". A look of thankfulness came across his face, and he said "Yes, thank you. Can you please, please pull my socks up? I can't do it."

He wasn't crazy or a menace. He wasn't panhandling. His old raggedly socks had fallen down his swollen ankles, and all he wanted was for someone to help him pull them up. After I pulled up the socks, he said "Thank you" and rolled away. I am sure I was gone from his thoughts. I, however, couldn't let go of the moment. I had my emotions changed in an instant--from distancing aversion to abject sympathy.

I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet. ~Ancient Persian Saying

At 61+, I am definitely on the backside of my turn on earth, losing my hair, legally blind with 20/1250 corrected lenses in my tri-focals, have a heart condition I have to take meds for every day to keep it beating regularly, have glaucoma and take drops every day to keep from going totally blind, and on the mend from almost a year off including radiation and chemo treatments for tonsil cancer....and I am still 1000 percent better off than this guy. God forbid that I should even take a nanosecond to ever lament my situation after meeting a man that would trade with me in a heartbeat.

I have often commented on how faabulous my life has been, and in many ways it is even better now that I have refocused on my extra turn as a cancer survivor. I am happy every day...just to be here. Every day is Another Day in Paradise. I know people that are in the prime of their life, excellent health, making far more money than I will ever see...and are obviously very unhappy. This one executive I know just returned from a two-week vacation in Hawaii. I popped my head into his office and asked how his vacation was and without even looking up, he scowled and said, "I don't want to talk about my vacation." He never looked up at me or asked how I was doing... just kept on working at his computer and nothing more was said. It was a bit awkward, so I just turned and left. I thought to myself how fortunate I was and how obviously miserable he was.

I am even more thankful for my life today. I can pull up my own socks.