Monday, February 28, 2011

02-28-2011

  Man what a storm today in more ways than one. This evening when my brother came back to the house to get me to take the tractor and scrape his gravels off the road and level back out his driveway he dropped a bomb. For those who have read the blog from the days of the treatments they read where Charlie, my stepdad took me to Radiation therapy. Today he went to an ENT and they discovered a tumor in his throat. It is in the same as mine was. He has throat cancer or Esophageal Cancer, whichever you want to call it. They will do his biopsy in about 2 weeks to determine what kind and what stage. I would ask that you please include him in your prayers.

  I would also remind those who read this that if you have certain symptoms to please get checked out. Trust me. The scope that they run in your nose and into your throat does not hurt, and that coming from a man that hates to have anything other than air and my finger in my nose. His symptoms were having a small amount of problems swallowing. Frequent sore throats (more than two a year), ear pain. Now we both smoked which that, chewing, and dipping plays a factor but a factor just as much if not more is Acid Reflux. He had that just as I did. If you are worried about not wanting to know, it is survivable. Most people know that I believe in alternative therapies yet in some cases when it has gone too far conventional therapies must be taken. I was asked where I would be if I had refused conventional medicine and went alternative medicine and my response is that I would have smothered to death by now. That isn't a guess. That is a fact.

  So now I get to repay the favor to Charlie, yet I wish I couldn't repay him for I know how hard it is to get through this. He is a good man, so please remember him in your prayers.

  Tomorrow I am to make a call to Rathfoot to give them an update on my throat and the swelling and if the medication is working. I may wait until Wednesday though. It isn't working. I'm not exactly sure what happens next. During the day it is a tad better but at night it hasn't changed. I dread making that call. I really would like to do without surgery yet I know that Denise is getting wore out waking me and propping me up a few times a night. I'm kind of tired of fighting for breaths myself. We both stay tired.

  On the brighter side I went and looked at two Jennys (female Jackasses). The lady will not separate them and after watching the two I saw why, they are so attached to each other. If it is dry enough I will go get them this weekend. Jack will not only have buddies but mates. The floods today took down 3 sections of the new fence I will need to repair and me and Megan repaired what driveway we could and will have to buy more gravel. I called today to get an order placed for 20 ton. We didn't go back in the woods to check that fence but I'm pretty sure it is down too. Kind of depressing and yet that is just part of it. Tomorrow I will have to also ride up to the cows and check that fencing too, plus the cows. Lord what a day.     

8 comments:

Susan said...

I watched the espisode on TV and felt compelled to write, came to your blog and read a lot tonight, about how you were not the man you should be for your wife and family. You put THINGS before people and feelings, and yet were able to see god in your lifetime, what an awwwmazing thing!
My husband and myself are actively trying to find a place to live in the sevierville area, it is great to know that GOD is there.
My uncle suffered with throat cancer, he underwent surgery, all looked well, and had a reaccurance, mostly due to him missing appointments, cut to the short of it, he was termonal, decided he would starve himself to death. Laying on a hospital gerney in the ER at the end, he decided he wanted to live, asked for oxygen, and meds, they declined as he was a vet and the vets van was on the way to the hospital.His body expired 4 minutes before that veteran van arrived.
While I have no clue what it may be like to "die" and see our maker,I am myself a smoker, I had a lump on my neck, found I have a goiter on my thyroid gland, and now another scan shows this has 2 buddies.
We are all so afraid of "death" as we know it, and can't imagine life flasing before our eyes, sometimes we never stop to enjoy things. It doesnt have to be the big things all the time, but those small things that others may not see, cuz they are too busy looking at the "bigger picture".
I have always thought, when we go to our everlasting place, we will never be measured or calculated by what we drove, what job we held, what we owned, and where we lived, but moreover WHO WE ARE as a person.
I am so sorry that you had to see the flashes of the things you did in which you thought you were not a great person, we all have our moments of being JA's, whats important that we can recognize this.
I quit my job to care for my mother who died of cancer, and lost my farm in foreclosure due to this, if I had to do it again, I would, because people are more important than money.
I won't go on and on, sorry for wasting a ton of your time, cuz time is all we have to begin with.
Anthony, your life and story is profoud, not only beacuse it demonstartes how life happens when your busy making plans, but because it can happen to anyone at any time any where.
Your brave in taking this dragon on face to face, a victory for all of us, you strive to be well, to be whole, and spiritual.
You give HOPE and FAITH to those who may ne losing those, we all live on HOPE, you my new neighbors ( when we get moved) shine this!!!!!
If one blog entry gives some faith and hope to another, buddy, maybe thats what this is all about....huh?
Contiued faith and love for you and the family, blessings, and those for Charlie as well!!!
God
Love
Faith
Trust
Peace
~Susan

Andi said...

I'm sorry to hear that Charlie, who has been there for you during your cancer treatment, is now himself ill.
I will include him in my prayers.

KimberFNP said...

Wow, Anthony, what are the chances that Charlie would also develop a cancer, let alone in his throat. Was your cancer in your airway or in your esophagus? I always thought it was in your trachea/larynx area. Either way, you are one tough cookie and I'm sure you will now get to be a rock for Charlie through all this.

CourtneyC said...

Prayers, prayers, my friend.

anthony7 said...

Hi Susan, I thank you for sharing your story and your kind words and prayers. I am sorry about your uncle, but please know that he is better now, actually perfect. Cancer is a cruel disease, but you know this already. It took a slap to wake me up but you, you were already awake. I admire you for taking care of your mother and knowing what was really important in this life. You have sacrificed and done as we all should do. When will you know the results of your scan? What are they thinking it is? I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. It sounds as if your plate has been full enough. Just remember that God will not put anymore than we can bear, though sometimes it seems it. That is all we really have in this world, faith and hope... and perhaps that is just enough to see us through. Thank you for remember Charlie in your prayers. We talked today and he is afraid and worried.

When you all get moved in you will have to yell and we can meet perhaps.

God Bless, Anthony

anthony7 said...

Thank you Andi and CourtneyC. I talked with him today for a while. I teased him and said we would be doing the Shoney's thing. We laughed about he took me there after each treatment to keep my weight up and he gained 25lbs himself, and now I would take him so I could complain about gaining weight. :) It brought a smile. He is a good man. Thank you all for your prayers.

Kim, Hey lady I didn't know if you still peeked in. I'm glad your still here. Charlie's is in the same location of the Pyriform Sinus area. His I think they said is like mine and growing along side his larynx. He didn't make a guess if it has lymphoid involvement yet, so maybe it's early. The do his surgery in 2 weeks, same day that I have a dr appointment, but I'm sure mom will want to go with him.

We kind of went over what tries to go the wrong way, the right way, or up the nose, when eating. His tumor is blocking him off like mine did. Texture, thickness, slick, etc. Right now he has saliva glands so he is choking like I did when mine worked.

Unknown said...

Hello Anthony, Denise and family,
I am fine, tests came back cysts and a goiter on my thyroid gland, nothing serious, and have to have ultra sounds every 6 months to make sure there are no changes.
All is well in Minnesota here, except being cold, we have been here our entire lives, looking forward to some nice Tennessee weather soon, hopefully. We will have to secure employment and housing before the move, thats not an easy task long distance.
I hope things are well for you all, and that Charlie gets some good news as well, I can't imagine what your all going through.Your all a true testiment to Gods love and strength!
So many people say that God doesn't give you more than you can handle, but it sure feels like he has at times, I guess we need to look at it as experiences and stepping stone to "home".
Sending you all blessings and Love..
Susan

anthony7 said...

Hi Susan, Thank God. I am so glad to hear that all came back good, or at least better than you expected. I know that waiting period seems like an eternity.

We're into what seems like the Monsoon season now, lol. Rain, rain, rain.

I agree with what you said, these life is just stepping stones to a better life. Thank you for the blessings. I guess what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Again though, I am so happy that yours was better than expected.

God Bless, Anthony