October 2008 : Discovered Lump In My Mouth While Investigating A Sore Throat.
December 2008 : Went To GP Because Of Lump, Diagnosed As Irritation.
January 21 2009 : Went To ENT In Oak Ridge TN, Because Lump Was Still Present
And Growing. Was Told I Had Cancer.
February 2009 : Went For Consultation With ENT Surgeon At Vanderbilt Medical
Center In Nashville, TN.
March 23, 2009 : My Dad Took My Mom To The Emergency Room. She Was
Having A Extreme Headache And Her Arm Suddenly Went Numb.
She Was Already In A Coma By The Time Wendell And I Arrived.
She Went To Be With The Lord At 7:00 PM. She Was 66 Years
Old.
March 23, 2009 : Wendell And I Left Saint Mary's Hospital In Knoxville, TN At Around
8:00 PM. We Drorve To Nashville And Spent The Night In A Hotel .
March 24, 2009 : I Had My First Cancer Surgery. They Removed The Hard And Soft
Pallette On The Left Side. They Removed Three Top Teeth And
The Gum And Bone. They Placed An Obturator In Place To Cover
The Hole But It Was Too Small For The Large Area They Had Cut
Out, So They Added To It With Material They Found In The
Operating Room.
March 27, 2009: I Was Discharged From Vnderbilt.
March 29, 2009 : We Recieved Friends And Had The Funeral Services For My Mom.
March 30, 2009 : We Had The Grave Side Services And Burial For My Mom.
June 2, 2009 : I Had My Second Cancer Surgery. They Had Found Cancer
In A Lympth Node Following A PET Scan. They Removed A Total
Of 26 Lymph Nodes And Cancer Was Found In Three.
They Performed Reconstruction During This Surgery. They Took Tissue
And Blood Vessels From My ForeArm To Fill The Hole In My Mouth.
They Did A Skin Graph On My Left Thigh To Cover My ForeArm. I Was
In ICU For Three Days, Did Not Eat Or Drink For Seven Days. I Had A
Tracheotomy And Four Drainage Tubes. I Spent A Total Of 9 Days In
The Hospital.
July 24, 2009 : Had Chemo Port Placed.
July 27, 2009 : First Radiation Treatment.
July 29, 2009 : I Had My First Doses Of Chemo: Cisplatin And Taxol. I Had To Go
To The Emergency Room That Night. I Was Having Severe
Stomach Pain.
September 2009 : Was Admitted To Baptist Hospital, (was admitted many other times
throughout treatment, but this time was the sickest I was during
the whole treatments that is why I have added it to the TimeLine.)
My Blood Count Was Extremely Low And My Mouth Was Full Of
Blisters. This Was By Far The Sickest I Had Felt On This Journey.
September 23, 2009 : Finished Radiation Treatments!!!!! I Had Underwent A Total Of
37 Treatments. Also I Was Told I Would Not Be Needing
Anymore Chemo!!!!! This Was Wendell And My 20th
Wedding Anniversary!!!
October 9, 2009 : Headed To Destin Florida For A Much Desired Vacation!!!!
October 12, 2009 : Went To Emergency Room In Destin FL.
October 13, 2009 : Was Admitted To Fort Walton Hospital.
October 13, 2009 : Had Surgery To Cut Open, Clean Out And Drain The Strep Infection
In My Partoid Gland On The Left Side.
He Also Placed A Drainage Tube.
October 16, 2009 : My Second Surgery, Performed By Dr. Seifker, To Drain The
Infection In My Neck.
December 30, 2009 : Had My First PET Scan Post Surgeries And Treatments.
No Sign Of Cancer. I Am Officially In Remission!!!!!
