We have decided to get a second opinion. It just doesn't seem plausible that modern medicine does not have instruments that can get down my throat far enough to remove this thing. Pathology has determined it is laryngeal cancer, a squamous cell carcinoma "in situ" on the right vocal cord. It is in the cells of the lining of the vocal cord and has not penetrated or spread.
The anesthesiologist had difficulty getting an airway inserted during the surgery -- so much so that he wrote a letter for me to use in any future surgery to alert those anesthesiologists. The pathway was so narrow and curved they had a real problem getting a ventilation tube inserted.
The recovery period from this second surgery was a lot longer than from the first. My throat healed fairly quickly but they had knocked my throat and mouth around a good bit so that I had some really sore spots. It took almost two weeks to get my strength back from the anesthesia.
Through the good work of our daughter, Cathy Huebner, I am hooked up with Dr. Norman Hogikyan of the University of Michigan Neck and Head Cancer center. http://www.cancer.med.umich.edu/cancertreat/headandneck/the_clinic.shtml
Dr. Hogikyan has had a lot of experience removing this kind of cancer. I have an appointment with him on June 6.
Everything I have read and everything the doctors have told me points to tobacco as the most likely cause of this problem. I smoked cigarettes, cigars and pipes for at least 30 years before I quit permanently on March 16, 2000.
I go to Ann Arbor confident in God's love and in the skills of the folks at the UM hospital. Cathy works in the university's Kellog Eye Center and I know the quality of doctors and staff there. I am sure those at the Cancer Clinic will be good, too.
