Pete,

Found this website today and thought that if you haven't found it already, you might get something out of it:

Web Whispers

This is from the same site and discusses devices:

Web Whispers Devices

Told you in a previous message that I was going to talk to my laser engineer friend but he's ignoring me! I sent him an email, have had brunch with him and his wife and not a word was mentioned. Maybe it's like casual acquaintances asking doctors for free medical advice - gets old after a while!

Good luck to you,

Mimi

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mimi McC,

Mimi, thanks for the info. i am still avoiding that issue. have my appointment at the cancer center for monday, so by the end of the week i hope to know my options, if any.

thanks again,
pete

Well my original diagnosis and recommendation has been confirmed. Since I was no longer in a state of shock I was better able to understand my situation.

My cancer is on the lower part of my vocal cords. When the cancer is towards the top, surgery is an option. However, if on the lower part, removal of the voice box is the only way.

The surgeon I have gives me a 90% success rate. She assures me that I will be able to do anything I am doing now except swimming. Last year, I never hit my pool. This year I hit it twice. Just been so busy but vowing to slow down and enjoy life a bit more, but now swimming will not be part of it. She also dropped the name of a professional wrestler who has went through the surgery I will be going through & it has not slowed him down.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: pete228,

Hello Pete,looks as if you have now got all the answers you needed to move forward with treatment now.It makes a difference when you have checked all possible options .We will be thinking of you ,keep us posted .

Best wishes ,
Bell and Paul

Bell, it will be a little while. don't think i am crazy but i got my date postponed a couple of weeks. this will allow me to go to an okinawan karate school where they will be testing about a dozen or so students for their black belts. my local instructor who will accompany me will be one of the judges. a real honor for someone in another style to be invited to judge students seeking their black belts in a different style. one of the brown belts who i have worked out with a couple of times asked me to come over to watch him test if i could. so i am just an observer.

plus i will get to go to 2 more high school friday night football games + one play off & 2 more UT games in austin before i hit the table + having about a week in a private room. 500 hundred something rooms and they are all private.

so this gives me plenty of time to tie up loose ends before i become an inmate, opps i mean patient. also give me something to think about besides my upcoming surgery. but darn, it's hard to ignore that big elepahnt in the room with me called cancer. ROFL.

later, pete

Hello Pete ,do not think you are crazy !! Paul made the same decision and postponed his treatment for a little while,( the hospital team were very good about this) as our 1st daughter was getting married ,we had the wedding on the Friday and then set off on the Monday and commenced treatment on the Tuesday.He had gone to london over the 2 months previously, for set ups to prepare as they are quite time consuming and also had his mask fitted so the groundwork was all done .

Some things are important in life that you want to be there and feel good for ,so you do what is important for you as "THE BIG ELEPHANT" as you put it does take you down and out of things for a period of time as you know .

Enjoy your matches hope your teams win .The loose ends !!!! agh goodluck with those also.Paul is still dotting I's and crossing T's
He now likes to have everything up to speed and has become super organized .

Enjoy your posh room and we wish you well.

Bell and Paul.

Hi Pete
You've had some tough news but if you are only as partly bouyed by your pre-surg plans as I was, you're going to have a very fulfilling few weeks. Good on you, I say.
I can't relate to the dreaded 'c' as an elephant since they are my all time favorite animal and I've been collecting them for over 30 years (yes! started when I was a mere babe!..... I wish!) but can fully appreciate the dark cloud or shadow it produces.
Good luck with your footy and have a great time with your karate commitments.
Love
Deborah

Bel, Glad to hear that Paul is another that does not let the "big elephant" control his life completely. haha.

Deborah, You sound like my wife. When she was a little girl she told her parents she wanted a baby elephant for Christmas. For some reason she never got it. However, I did take her to an elephant farm north of Ching Mai and she got to ride one.

Yep, having cancer is just like having a big elephant in the room with you. Very difficult to ignore. Just have to make the best of it and not let it take over your life.

Pete,

My daughter and I were most likely at the same elephant farm by Chiang Mai! This was when I was living and working in Malaysia and she came over for two weeks during Xmas.

Malaysia reminds me - must get a note off to Sharifah!

Mimi

quote:

Originally posted by Mimi McC:
Pete,

Found this website today and thought that if you haven't found it already, you might get something out of it:

Web Whispers

This is from the same site and discusses devices:

Web Whispers Devices

Told you in a previous message that I was going to talk to my laser engineer friend but he's ignoring me! I sent him an email, have had brunch with him and his wife and not a word was mentioned. Maybe it's like casual acquaintances asking doctors for free medical advice - gets old after a while!

Good luck to you,

Mimi

Mimi,

this is an excellent site. i have been trying to ignore the issue, but can't ignore it much longer since i will be facing the surgery next month.

i printed off a lot of stuff so i would have it hard copy. my wife is reading it.

i have been wondering if we can't have something special that jumps out at readers that gives specific hints for people dealing with neck cancer. i know you have probably accumulated a lot of ideas. the doc's probably think we know all this stuff and maybe some do, but i don't think the majority of us do. like myself i asked the onocologist about my stiff like neck..... you're doing your exercises aren't you? what exercises was my reply?

1. Undergoing radiation - patient must do neck exercises 2 to 3 times a day to retain flexibility (prevent stiffness).

2. Use of Colgate Prevident 5000 Plus every night without rinsing helps prevent tooth decay during and after radiation.

3. Gain weight before one starts radiation or has surgery.

4. do a search of the RDOC.org.uk/ website

this might even be a good project for a college student.

matter of fact, there might be something out there now....

thanks again for steering me towards the whisper web site.

later, pete

Hello Pete,

So sorry to read your news.

I, like you think there must be something better than there currently seems to be, as far as instructions and information is concerned. I have been trying to collate useful information together for my friend Paul but its very difficult. He has been referred to Barts for IMRT and chemo. Had mask fitted and has appointment for peg fitting on Thursday, treatment starts on the 10th Novemeber but apart from being given a tube of aqueous cream and told to put it on his neck, that is it so far. All seems woefully inadequate to me. I have put him a box of stuff together as I work in the dental profession and can access plenty of products but whether or not they will help is the question that there dosen't seem to be any satisfactory answer to. The best tips seem to be from the forum. As these are all very serious issues I don't think this is good enough. Without the forum we certainly would have been so ignorant about so many things and it certainly hasen't been through not asking, but information is just not forthcoming.

I have got Paul some disposable mouth trays and a product called tooth mousse and MI paste plus. Both are meant to help with dry mouth and also protects and builds up enamel on teeth. Also a product called gingigel which is excellent for sore mouths, the professional version is supposed to be even better. In truth who knows and that seems to be the problem. Paul is going to start a little preventative regime before his treatment starts. Seems to me the problems after treatment just seem to go on and on. There must be a better way!

L O L

Joan xxx

hi pete
dont know what to say mate,just when you think you have kicked the big elephant to kingdom come it comes back and bites you on the bum.i just want to send you my best wishes for your coming surgery and treatments.i know a guy who helps out at the hospital i go to has had his removed and he has got talking off to a fine art he put his hand over a hole in his throat and talks and he does it without thinking.it has not stopped him doing what he wants he travels all over the world and is enjoying life to the full.all the best love shirl xxx

pete, got the cancer back after laryngectomy in his lungs he fought it with chemo and trial studies, but did not help, spread to his brain, and was still fighting with trials, yet it took him yesterday. He was my hero and i am gona miss him terribly, wanted you all to know, live each day like it matters cause Pete sure did, he had a drive for life, despite all the trials he suffered he never quit! I admire his spirit so much. Good bye my friend, may you be pain free and in a happy place forever!

Denny,Im so sorry to hear about Pete.
Thanks for updating us.

Sorry to hear your news. Thinking of you. Hagg.