Hi everyone!! I'm not sure how to start this, but I have [...]
Hi everyone!! I'm not sure how to start this, but I have vocal cord cancer. It has come back repeatedly. It's common in smokers and I don't smoke, so it's extremely frustrating because there is nothing I can do differently. This November will be my 4th surgery in 4 years. I go through an awful depression every time. In other words I live my life in surgery, recovery, and depression. I finally have realized it's important to be your own advocate though. I adore my ENT and he's been so good to me, but I recently did some research and found a treatment called PDT. I find out if I'm a candidate this week! If I am then hopefully this means no 4th surgery. It's supposed to essentially be a safer and gentler form of chemo and radiation with little major side effects and many do not appear to be long term. It seems very successful too. If anyone else has recurring cancers like I do or even just recently diagnosed l encourage you to look it up. I wish I knew of this before, so I'm trying to spread awarness. Even if it's not for you start researching other treatments that may be available. Doctors can guide us through our health care journey and determine if a treatment may be useful to us, but I also believe we should be given choices to determine the best treatment for us. The full name of PDT is photodynamic therapy in case anyone wanted to look it up! 🙂 I can't wait to connect with you all on here! I just joined today!
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DisneyDreamsa and others:
After suffering from laryngitis for a couple months, my ENT diagbosed me with Stage 1 vocal cord cancer. So while I felt blessed to have found it super early, I was still encouraged to have 33 radiation treatments in addition to the surgery I had in July. My last treatment was Oct. 5. I still do not have a lot of my voice back and my throat still feels irritated and raw. Diagnosed today and being treated for sinus infection.I have problems with chronic pain in the past so that in addition to my cancer has me feeling down and out. Ive never felt like Im scared of dying. Im sick of feeling sick. And of course, like you - depression. Now that Ive read your post, Im concerned about it coming back. What was your treatment schedule like and how often do you get checked after your surgery? How did you find out about this new treatment or others? Clinical trials were considered but none were found due to my cancer being found in Stage 1. I appreciate you sharing your story. @disneydreams