From Nothing to "My Chances of Survival Are What?" in 30 Days

I just checked the timeline. It was 30 days.

The last week in January I noticed a little lump in my neck. Swollen lymph node. No biggie. It got bigger. And bigger.

Scheduling a doctor was nearly a 2-week wait. That wasn't a problem. I thought I had some infection my body was handling and saw no need for Immediate Care or an Emergency Room. It was 4 weeks from when I noticed the lump until I saw the doc.

The moment the doc saw the lump and I saw the look on the doc's face, I knew I wasn't going to like what I was going to hear. Then the words, "I think you have cancer". Then the words "mass" and "biopsy". 3 vials of blood for the blood work. Chest X-ray (already looking for the source) and a CAT scan of my neck. My entire body was poked and probed for lumps from somewhere south of the waist on up. Nothing. I did the south of the waist inspection myself.

The followup visit was 1 week later. My blood got great scores on every test. Nothing there. Chest x-ray was great. Heart and lungs normal. Well, that's good news for a smoker. CAT scan was pretty much inconclusive. The lump wasn't my lymph node. They ruled out a carotid body tumor. By now they had ruled out lungs, throat, larynx, carotid body tumor, Hodgkins disease, non-Hodgkins lymphoma and several other cancers.

The most conclusive result from the CAT scan was "primary metastatic trauma is suspected". In English, that's cancer that's spread from another location. That's bad news. Real bad news. Biopsy is scheduled.

Doc took 2 samples. One for microscopic examination and one for visual examination. The syringe for the visual examination had nothing but clear, yellowish puss in it. Aha! I knew it. It's just an infection. I said, "That increase the possibility it's just an infection doesn't it". The answer wasn't what I was hoping for. "Yes, but I still think you have cancer". Damn!

Doc called the next day with the biopsy results. Squamous cell carcinoma. He gave me some internet site where I could do some research. Sit back in your seats, do not raise you hands or stand up, make sure your seat belts are tightly fastened, cause this roller coaster is about to take a wild ride - all downhill.

5-year survival for this type of cancer is 60% and it mostly hits people 5 - 10 years older than me. It peaks in the 65-74 age group and really drops off in the 75 - 84 age group. A lot of things really drop off in the 75 - 84 age group. That was the extent of the good news.

A complicating factor is aggressiveness of the secondary occurrence site. Mine is growing rapidly and qualifies as aggressive because of that. That reduces 5-year survival by 1/2, so now I'm looking at 30%. Another complicating factor is the fact that it spread before it was diagnosed. That reduces survivability by 1/2, so now I'm looking at 15%. Mine is classified as Stage 4.

A bit more research indicates that of those who don't survive 5 years, most die in the 6 month to 2-year range. That's what I'm staring straight in the face.

Next..."You didn't schedule any more tests or anything because of WHAT??"