Shortly after Ed’s younger sister, Betty, passed after a brave battle with brain cancer, he was diagnosed with throat cancer in November of 2017.
After his initial diagnosis, Ed scheduled a second opinion. Both diagnoses were the same except for the treatment regimen. At the onset of his treatment, Ed wanted a port or feeding tube inserted. He and his second opinion oncologist had some differences in balancing the threshold of pain and the risk of infection, so he chose the initial oncologist.
He had a PEG tube inserted a little later in his treatment. I had a medical port, which was placed inside my chest, so they wouldn’t keep pricking my veins for the chemo, blood draws, etc. I also got plaster casts of my teeth, which are used to create ‘tooth trays’ I’d use for fluoride treatments, explained Ed. Having the port saved my arm from becoming a pincushion.
One of Ed’s favorite books on exercise discusses progressive increments to build muscle. These pre-treatment measures were like that for me, acclimating me to hospitals. My hospital offered a class on preparing for chemotherapy, explained Ed. I’m glad my sister, Annie, and girlfriend, Kathy, accompanied me to the chemo class. We went two weeks before treatment started, and frankly I forgot a lot of the details. I was blissfully ignorant, and I didn’t think I needed to prepare but as one of my favorite role models, Coach John Wooden was fond of saying, ‘Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.’
Early in his radiation treatments, Ed heard a song, by the music band Journey, already playing in the room Don’t Stop Believin. Ed was encouraged to bring in his own CDs and his music selection was a great distraction for him and helped him mentally.
A practicing Roman Catholic, his treatments happened to coincide with the Lenten Season. During this time, the church observes the Blessing of the Throats. Ed joked with Father James that he was thinking of lifting his shirt and having him bless my PEG tube. Father James was humored by this and added blessing is a one size fits all type of thing, covers the whole body!
After Ed started getting better, he found himself saying this week a lot. It was a good coping mechanism as his throat area kept going through changes. This week, I can talk longer at one time without sipping fluid than I could last week. I can’t eat grapes yet, something about the juice really irritates my throat…this week.
He knew he’d eventually get better and back to normal. As Ed improved and came into contact with more people asking about his condition, he could honestly share what was going on, good or bad, but include this week as a sign of optimism. The mantra this week is something he still uses.
Even though Ed applied as much of the treatment class lessons as he could and thought he was pacing himself, he developed an infection around the PEG tube area of his chest. Again, his mantra, this week, came into play when running into roadblocks like the infection, as well as minor victories like enjoying pancakes!
Ed returned to work in May of 2018. It would be about a month later before he decided to retire. Fatigue was a major factor as driving forty minutes would tire him out. Despite extra vitamins and doing protein shakes, Ed still had low energy. The dry mouth he experienced caused him to wake up every couple of hours at night. Like his dad would wisely say, Healing is a slow process.
During his cancer journey, Ed registered with CaringBridge and invited his loved ones, friends, and colleagues to follow him as he journaled through the many months of treatment.
Whenever any of his friends would call or comment on CaringBridge and mention they were supporting him through this difficult time, he would respond that it is a different time. He eventually began to not use difficult and would swap it whenever possible with different. That attitude sustained him. That, and his wonderful support network. Pharmaceuticals may help cure, but people help you heal, adds Ed.
One day after retiring, Ed noticed his computer bookmark for his CaringBridge. Scrolling through the entries got him thinking about giving back to others. His original CaringBridge platform was called The Rossman Rally, but since he thinks it’s way too vague for a mass market, he figures A Guy’s Guide to Throat Cancer would be a better book title. Ever the librarian, he is all about accessibility. You can find more about his book here.
