Laryngectomy, laryngectomee,

Hoping to share some thoughts. Whether anybody sees them or not, well, that is yet to be determined. 

August 31, 2022 I had a total laryngectomy. Along with other crazy stuff done in my neck, they removed my voice box. Life has been a roller coaster since then. Well, to be honest, it was a roller coaster before that. Thought I beat cancer over 10 years ago only for it to rear it's ugly head again in 2019. I met with a few surgeons in my city who all said my only hope was to have my voice box removed. My daughter encouraged me to get an opinion at MD Anderson in Houston. They said they could remove my voice box but that wouldn't get rid of my cancer because my cancer was now also in my lungs. The previous doctors never checked. I had been told that my type of cancer doesn't spread. I don't trust those doctors to this day. 

MD Anderson started me on a chemo pill that was reducing my tumors. Yay! But it was causing lung issues. I had to stop taking them. But because of that miracle pill I was able to keep my voice 3 years longer. They removed my voice box but also removed the cancer surrounding it. Yay! I still have tiny tumors in  my lungs. Currently I'm on a watch and wait schedule with no treatment. I go in about every 6 months to monitor the stuff in my lungs. If they grow, then doctor will do something. Right now, the nodules are stable.

Prior to August 31, 2022 I had a voice box but not enough air was getting to my lungs because of a cancerous tumor. I couldn't get much air to talk. So when I did talk it was pretty quiet. To be honest, I was always told I talked quietly. 





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