Category: My Cancer Journey

My Cancer JourneyLeave a comment

Friday was an interesting day…

rbspecht

I will be editing this post ‘on the fly’… so check it again later; it may have changed.To begin with, I ran into Mike N. Friday afternoon, and let him know that I expect to be able to at least ‘consult’ on his black tie event. He then told me that just that morning his contact at the Boyle Street Centre had called to let him know that the author of the book the event was to showcase was found dead of an apparent overdose of prescription drugs. Mike was still showing signs of disbelief. All I could think of … Continue reading Friday was an interesting day…

barium swallow, COMPRU, fluoroscope, My Cancer Journey, swallow test, video fluoroscopeLeave a comment

Speech Pathology

rbspecht

Yesterday I had an appointment with the C.O.M.P.R.U. Team at the Misericordia (have ya noticed how I’m not getting anything posted on the day?). My particular therapist is Irene… a very nice young woman, fabulously blue eyes. I was expecting that I would be taught several exercises to strengthen my tongue and throat, but all they really did was get another of those mysterious ‘baselines’. Now, to be fair, I know that they will use the baseline if I require therapy after the fact…We did a number of things:A barium swallow. This was kinda cool. They had me drink the … Continue reading Speech Pathology

cancer, David Williams, full disclosure, mandibular swing, My Cancer Journey, oropharyngeal, projectile vomitingLeave a comment

Now it gets scary… BOO!

rbspecht

So now we know.So now we know more than enough.So now we know too much.So now we know that we don’t know enough.My surgeon actually does seem to be on top of things… and does seem to give a damn about what’s going on.Sunday afternoon, October 28, 2007, while I was hanging about at the local mall, waiting for Gail to finish her purchase of some mysterious Lancome product (mostly so she could get the free gift), Dr. Williams called on my cell phone. Respecting the fact that I was in a public place, he offered to call me back … Continue reading Now it gets scary… BOO!

My Cancer Journey, quadroscopyLeave a comment

Quadroscopy; the day after the day after

rbspecht

Friday was the day of the Quadroscopy, that particularily invasive procedure when they knock you out, send scopes and tubes up your nose, down your throat, into your lungs and into your stomach, sampling and biopsying along the way. As far as I can tell, they also pin back your lips to make access easier; mine felt like I had been french kissing an aggressively amourous woman wearing braces. The insides of my lips were bruised, cut and generally abused. My throat was, and still is sore, especially in the upper right quadrant. Did Dr. Williams take a particularily large … Continue reading Quadroscopy; the day after the day after