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Saying hello and a question or two or three
Head & Neck Cancer | Last Active: Aug 5 7:24pm | Replies (16)Comment receiving replies
Reading more online (just can’t help it), I am wondering if having surgery and radiation and all the pain that comes with it is worth the trouble. I am 66 and have lived a long life, not as fulfilling and accomplished as I would like, but I have a wonderful wife who would walk through hell with me. Is is worth losing all or part of your tongue, breathing through a hole in your throat, being fed through your nose, not to mention all the pain. The surgery is starting to scare the crap out of me, they can bombard me with protons and fill me full of chemo, I don’t care. It’s either that or they can make me comfortable before they donate my body to science. Or am I just scaring myself a little too much?
Replies to "Reading more online (just can’t help it), I am wondering if having surgery and radiation and..."
@robolobo, try to go with the flow. Your body has allowed this cancer to invade, so now you must focus on healing. Many things can wreak havoc on a person's immune system such as bad diet, smoking, drinking alcohol in excess, root canals, etc. I believe 100% that my two root canals weakened my immune system to the point that cancer invaded successfully. After the two teeth involved were removed (after insisting with a reluctant dentist) my health problems subsided. As for the cancer, I too had Covid more than once, plus the so-called vaccination. Between the Covid and radiation, both my vocal cords paralyzed. Hence, I could barely breath for almost a full year as I resisted the "hole in my throat" surgery.
After having a Tracheotomy, I am back to my old self. I can breathe, cough out mucus very easily, eat, drink, and speak. Do you notice you have on a shirt? Barely, right? Well, that is how the "hole in the throat" feels. I barely notice it is there as I mow the lawn with a push mower, maintain my huge garden, can my produce...on and on.
This has happened to you for a reason. This may sound silly to you, but your mind directs your feelings. Reject the negative and scary thoughts and replace those thoughts with positive thoughts. Look at this as an adventure. It sounds crazy, but if you keep thinking that way, you will start feeling that way. Whenever you get scared, just remember the doctors and nurses are waiting there to help you in this adventure. A television commercial for "Twister" came on while I was writing this which is profound! The words spoken: "You don't face your fears, you ride em'"!
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Believe me, your life after cancer can have difficult side effects. But your life after cancer can be filled with other rewards in that it is almost always a life changing event for the better. I am older than you, certainly comfortable to meet my maker, but enjoying the heck out of life after cancer including doing this in my spare time, to wrap my arm around you and carry you off the battle field to a good recovery.
You can do this.