Just the facts

A brief history of how we got here...

• several months ago Bobby felt a small lump in his neck while shaving.
• after a few weeks he asks my dad about it. Dad prescribes an antibiotic that has no effect on the lump.
• Dad says "Go see a 'real' doctor."
• the "real" doctor puts him on a different antibiotic, does a chest x-ray, and blood work, which all show nothing.
• since the "real doctor" isn't concerned, we aren't either
• lump in neck is ignored/forgotten for the time being.
• A few months pass, our parents are over for dinner, Bobby turns his head and dad sees that the lump is bigger. He is alarmed and strongly urges us to schedule a fine needle biopsy.
• next morning I call and schedule appointment. The soonest they have is over a month away.
• My dad then calls and gets one scheduled for 2 days later.
• Fine needle biopsy is inconclusive.
• referred to another doctor who does a core biopsy (much larger sample).
• we leave the next day to go camping for Memorial Day weekend and try to ignore the sinking feeling that we are both consumed with.
• Tuesday, May 26 I call for the biopsy report and the doctor tells me it is positive for squamous cell carcinoma in the lymph node.
• We are immediately referred to oncology, radiation oncology, and ENT specialist. Since there are no naturally occurring squamous cells in the lymph nodes, they know the cancer started somewhere else, and they need to know where.
• CT and PET scans show nothing.
• Tonsillectomy is done June 8, and on June 12 the pathology report shows that the primary tumor WAS in the left tonsil.
• Good news- nasty cancerous tonsil is gone. Bad news- it had already spread to surrounding muscle tissue. It's more aggressive than originally thought.
• June 18 is Day 1 for cancer treatment. Chemotherapy and radiation begin.