Now I'm really scared, how did your journey begin?

@sb4ca, I can imagine you're frightened. How did the CT scan go on Friday? Were you able to get more information before the weekend or have you been sitting with the unknown this weekend?

My journey began a bit differently. I had a regularly scheduled check-up with my PCP and I decided while I was there I would mention that I hadn't been able to breathe out of the left side of my nose for at least 6 months. It was starting to become irritating because I had tried everything I could think of to fix the issue that I assumed was allergies at first. My PCP looked in my nose and said there was some sort of obstruction and referred me to ENT. After a CT scan with ENT, they scheduled me for polypectomy. They said it should take about two hours for the surgery, a week for recovery, and then I'd be back to normal. Unfortunately, when I woke up from surgery everything was turned upside down and nothing has been normal since then. The surgery was stopped 20 minutes in because what they found was not a polyp but a very vascular tumor that started to bleed excessively when they tried to resect it. Luckily, they were able to get enough to biopsy. When I returned a week later to have the packing removed from my nose and hear the results of the biopsy the doctor informed me that the initial biopsy results showed it was something called a blue cell tumor. He said "blue cell tumor" was kind of an umbrella term and there were several different things it could be. He referred me to the University of Virginia Hospital and said they would be able to perform further testing on my biopsy. I was diagnosed with something called esthesioneuroblastoma. It was a malignant tumor that had grown throughout my left sinus cavity and actually broken my skull. I've ultimately had three surgeries and 30 rounds of radiation. There have been complications along the way with the surgeries and with the radiation, but the hope is that I'm through the worst of it.

I'm sure you're afraid of what answers you may get, but I always felt like the worst part was not knowing. When things are unknown or up in the air, I feel like our imaginations run wild, and sometimes what we hear isn't as scary or as bad as what we had imagined. Also, once things are identified and diagnosed, plans can be made. We can mentally and physically prepare and make a plan with our healthcare team and our families.

I hope things go well for you one way or another.

@sb4ca, any update? How are you doing?

Colleen, I'm going to start a new post about this.

I hope you have received your CT results.
You sound a lot like me husband- they found his tumor on a CTA of head and neck for Carotid Stenosis.
He has Pyriform Sinus Squamous Cell Cancer non HPV. The symptoms you describe are very much like what he experienced. His first Chemo cycle was 8/21/23.

@preyn, how is your husband doing on chemo? How are you doing?

I hope things are going well for you Colleen. My journey began when I felt like I was losing my voice at different times. This progressed to a raspy hoarseness. I saw my PCP who referred me to an ENT. The ENT took a look down my throat and showed me a picture of what she called a lesion. She referred me to a head and neck surgeon who took a look and was pretty sure it was cancer. A biopsy confirmed this. A CT scan showed no other involvement than my left vocal cord. I just went through 28 radiation treatments. I have a sore throat and no voice right now, but that should improve. I see the surgeon next week to see where we are at.

Hi @rsedlock1958 It sounds like you got on top of this rather than wait so long with symptoms when the real damage begins. The radiation can really cause some issues to deal with. If you only have a sore throat in addition to loss of voice, it sounds like you are on the mend. If you have other issues crop up as time goes by I think you will find other posts within this group that address almost everything. But if you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Good healing.

Thanks for the feedback. What helped me get through this was being able to stay active. I hit the gym nearly every day during my treatments, and I continue to do so.