One of the first rules of journalism is that the first rule can change depending on what the editor demands of you for that particular moment. Even through all of the confusion of finding the proper headline to meeting the deadline, one thing remains constant with all good journalists. Journalism thrives on facts. As such, it can be fairly said that the single most important rule is to insure the accuracy of such information being conveyed to the public. I was approached a week ago to do an... Read Full Story

Many have said, " How can you be a survivor if you are still going through treatments?" "How can you be a survivor if you have not been told you are cured?" Please allow me to explain! First off, let us see what Webster has to say. The actual meaning is as follows. Root word is survive. The intransitive verb of that word means: 1 : to remain alive or in existence : live on 2 : to continue to function or prosper The transitive verb means: 1 : to remain alive after the death of (he is... Read Full Story

Most of the posts have a deep meaningful purpose. Many times they are not written with that intention, but do impact someone somewhere along the line. This time, I keep things lite hearted. I am just having a darn good day. Actually the whole weekend went pretty well. Saturday started out kinda crappy। By the evening I was feeling better. I went to Wally World to get the food for the week. I dared to get steak. I big ol' fat one. I had managed to eat a whole piece of pizza earlier that day... Read Full Story

Recently I have had people ask me some difficult questions relating my Oral Cancer to death. At first I was offended. Then I was upset. Then I thought, they just do not get it! So, rather than getting upset, I am going to use this as an opportunity to educate! This is my take on the subject and how I personally feel. Death! This has been a topic for discussion since man has been on the face of the earth. I think we all can imagine what dieing is like. But we all want to know the big secret... Read Full Story

Well, I have a lot to report today. My first big exciting news is, that a small south side paper had contacted me today. It is called the South Side Times. They want to do a feature article on yours truly. PRETTY darn cool, is it not? They wish to do a feature on me. They called me and asked if I would be interested and I said, Of Course I would be. What an opportunity to get the word out about Oral Cancer. My interview in tomorrow at 3:00PM. That brings me to my second bit of news. My... Read Full Story

During the last few months of posting entries into my blog, I have made a few friends. They all have cancer in one way or another. Some have Head and Neck like I do. Some have Breast Cancer and some have Lymphoma. Some have had Cancer since age 3 and are now having babies. Some have only had it for a year or less and have days when the struggle with what life with cancer has to offer. can trouble them. Then there are the days when the sun is out, it is a warm spring day, the smell of fresh... Read Full Story

The mask is what holds the head and neck area in the same place every time Radiation is done. After mapping out on the computer for a week and a half, they need to insure that the work was not wasted. You must be in the exact same position every time. It would not be prudent to radiate the tongue one time and the spinal cord the next with the same beam. So as horrible as it looks, it is a needed part of the treatment. And it really is not that bad anyway. The outer rim of the mask snaps down... Read Full Story

I have to tell you all. I would have rather not had the cancer. But since I do, I have to say, I have been very blessed by the Doctors that I have had. They all have gone above and beyond what it deemed normal patient care, in order to insure my best possible outcome. Because of that, I would like to give them each the credit due! Dr. Tharp and Dr. Loesch of the Central Indiana Cancer Centers. They both are very knowledgeable in their field and have left no stone unturned. They have gone... Read Full Story

In the midst of cancer reality one may suffer times of anxiety, depression and fear. You become anxious about the uncertainty of what is to come. You feel sorry for yourself. You may even suffer a bit of self pity. Then you certainly have the fear of death. The BIG C! This is where the stigma resides. Cancer.... disease that has no cure. Truth is, there are a lot of diseases and disorders that are not with in the means of a cure. Some bring death, some do not. I tell you of this for... Read Full Story

There has been a lot of question as to what exactly the treatments will entail. Most of you want to know the specifics of the treatments involved. So I will tell you to the best of my own understanding. First off the Chemotherapy drug being used is called Erbitux. This drug is used for not only head and neck cancers but for colorectal cancer as well. It blocks the HER 1 pathway which is the pathway in the nucleus of the cancer cell that allows it to reproduce. There is a receptor on the... Read Full Story