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| The Birthday Princess and her Daddy |
I remember my dad telling me that he was having a hard time swallowing, and he mentioned it a few times, I blew it off initially, nut the one conversation I remember having was in the kitchen at his house. I knew he must have been worried about it because it was rare my dad complained about that kind of stuff. But he said he had talked to my aunt and that a few of my dad's uncle's had to have their throat's stretched, so that sounded good to me. The next morning my Uncle Tommy, dad, and Zachary left for NJ, to go to my cousin Jason's Coast Guard promotion ceremony. And after that it is all kinda a daze. My dad scheduled his appointment and he went in they said he would receive a call back with results in a few days, they called back in less than 3 hrs. We knew that wasn't a great sign but at this point it wasn't cancer yet. So he had an appointment with the Doc on Monday at 11....I talked to him before he and my mom left and I knew everything would be ok. He was my dad and the possibility of him having cancer never crossed my mind. He had just had heart surgery the year before and a heart attack about 7 yrs earlier, I just didn't think it was possible for anything else serious to go wrong. After 3 hrs had went by and I hadn't heard from them, I started to get worried, but I figured they just went to lunch and Sam's club. Then my phone rang, it was my mom, crying hysterically. I just said "it's cancer?" and she said "yes". I hung up and I drove over. That was the strangest ride over and I will never forget how I felt when I pulled into the driveway, it was 100 degrees and I was freezing and hollow inside. I sat there because I didn't want my dad to see the fear in my face and I think honestly I didn't want to see the fear in his. I walked in, and it was so dark in there, my dad came in the kitchen and we just hugged and cried ALOT!! I remember asking him, "What does this mean"? At this point we didn't know much...we knew he had Esophageal Cancer and that was about it.
Things moved along quickly, it was stage 2, contained in the esophagus, and everything sounded promising. But something was always off. I was very content with what we were being told and I guess because it all seemed so positive I never asked any complex questions, at some point I checked out of it and pretending he wasn't sick. He was diagnosed in August and scheduled surgery in December. We were ready to tackle this and get it out of him. The tumor was very large and made eating very difficult for him, and he hated that because my dad loved to eat!!!! He had 2 stints put in but they didn't seem to help much. He began his chemo and radiation in October, he handled that very well.. he was tired and weak but nothing to bad. Things were moving along and we were ready for surgery. We had our last Thanksgiving at my Aunt Dee's and Uncle Rick's and he was able to eat a little, funny the small things you are thankful for when you aren't able to do them anymore. So December got here pretty quick, and it was off to Richmond we went. The initial plan was after the surgery he would be in the hospital for 10 days, we knew it would be a little longer than that, just the way everything went with my dad.
December 13th, mom and dad leave for Richmond- I didn't go up because as my dad said "I'm just going to be shitting all night because of this crap they are making me drink, so you stay with the kids and come tomorrow". He cried when we hung up, and the last thing we said was I love you like we always did.
December 14th- Surgery Day... Mom, Haidy, and Uncle Tommy were there when I got there, dad's surgery was up at MCV, I remember driving up listening to Pink. When I arrived to the hospital, he was still in surgery. It seemed like forever, but finally the surgeon came out and got us, took us into a room and let us know dad was out of surgery. The surgery took longer than expected, as one of the stints had eroded in dad's esophagus, so he removed dad's entire esophagus. He also said dad lost a lot of blood during the surgery. But all and all it was a success. So we headed down to the CCU and waited patiently until we were able to get back there and see him. Finally, they called us back, I walked into the room and he was laying there with his tongue out, so I laughed at him, and was going to take his picture so we could joke around about it later, because that is what we do, but I didn't. Anyways, 10 days turned into 20, 20 into 30 and so on. It went from one complication to another. My mom stayed up there the entire time. Funny because even though he was having a hard time the thought of him not coming home never crossed any of our minds. He was having a hard time coming off the vent, and we later discovered his lungs had been damaged from the radiation. My dad spent Christmas in there, not awake, but I sat in that room right beside him and made sure I tortured him with Ralphie, we watched it all night until the marathon was over. My mom had decorated his room for Christmas with a small tree and all. So Christmas came and left, still no improvement. I came home, but the Christmas decorations were not coming down until my dad came home, anyways it was NYE, so back to Richmond we went, our family from NY met us and we all went to the hospital, my dad was awake, but not really to alert. We left hospital, went to dinner because NYE is also my sister-in-laws birthday, after dinner, we went back to hotel, at midnight we called hospital and all 20 of us rang the NY in with dad, the people at the hospital prob thought we were crazy...or just realized that they man they had in that bed was one of the most loved people in the world! So we ended 2009 in Richmond, hoping that 2010 was going to bring us the health and happiness 2009 took from us! My dad was set to retire and my mom was planning a big 60th birthday. We thought 2010 was the New Year we had been waiting for!!! TBC...
Esophageal Cancer facts:Esophageal cancer (EC) is a devastating disease. Although some patients can be cured, the treatment for esophageal cancer is protracted, decreases quality of life, and is lethal in a significant number of cases. The ideal treatment is debatable. Defendants of surgical treatment argue that resection is the only treatment modality to offer curative intent; whereas defendants of nonsurgical approach claim that esophagectomy has a prohibitive index of mortality and that esophageal cancer is an incurable disease.
Esophageal cancer is cancer that occurs in the esophagus — a long, hollow tube that runs from your throat to your stomach. Your esophagus carries food you swallow to your stomach to be digested.
Esophageal cancer usually begins in the cells that line the inside of the esophagus. Esophageal cancer can occur anywhere along the esophagus, but in people in the United States, it occurs most often in the lower portion of the esophagus. More men than women get esophageal cancer.
Signs and symptoms of esophageal cancer include:
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- Weight loss without trying
- Chest pain, pressure or burning
- Fatigue
- Frequent choking while eating
- Indigestion or heartburn
- Coughing or hoarseness
When to see a doctor
Make an appointment with your doctor if you have any persistent signs and symptoms that worry you.
(Mayo Clinic)
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