I learned today that one of my friends that I have known since the 1970's is being treated for throat cancer. She lives in another state so we don't see each other much but keep in touch via Facebook and emails. I saw an item in my local paper regarding someone we both know and sent her an email copy of the article. She answered back within a few minutes and said she was in MD Anderson Hospital in Houston receiving chemo for throat cancer. I was stunned. She said she started to call me but realized I would not be able to understand her. I sent a return email expressing my concern and asking if I could do anything for her. I've not heard back but she did say she had received her first chemo on Saturday and was feeling really bad. This was really a shock. She has never really been sick and was still working full time. Never smoked, drank very little. Thinking that she traveled to MD Anderson from northeast Louisiana for treatment makes me worry that this situation is not good.
MD Anderson Hospital is a great place to go for anyone with cancer. I have a friend that had esophageal cancer and I recommended them to him because I had asked a woman I was dating at the time who was an Oncologist where would be the best place to go if someone had cancer and she said Anderson’s hands down.
He spent about a month or more in the hospital and they did a lot of radiation and chemo treatments. After they released him, he had to stay in Houston for another few months, so I got him a hotel that wouldn’t take him across and he could stay there until they told him he could leave and go home. Anderson’s did another round of radiation and then he called me and said they were releasing him to come home, but he didn’t want to travel alone and asked me if I would fly down and travel home with him, so I did.
When I met him at the hotel, I suggested we stay another week just to make sure things were ok and he agreed. After only 2 days, he woke me up one night sicker than a dog. I called the ambulance and when we got him back to Anderson’s they found he had a infection, so they had to admit him. That was another 2 weeks I spent in Houston. Finally, we got to come home, but had to go back every month for the next 6 months so they could run a check on him. They were afraid his cancer would either return or metastasize. Nope, he stayed clean.
He was so lucky they got his cancer early enough. That was back in about 2012 and he has been clean since. His only issue is that he has to eat soft foods. This man was about 6 feet tall and weighed maybe 225 pounds when he was diagnosed. Now he is about 5’11” and weighs about 150 pounds. He eats nothing, except very soft food, like eggs, oatmeal, jello, cheeses, fish (unbattered) and stuff like that. Oh, and no alcohol. I thought for sure he would have to take food through a port, but he eats.
