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Ken
Tucker
Esophageal Cancer, diagnosed
in 1995
This is the my cancer story.
I have always had a
weaker body than those of my same age. I
experienced acid refluxes very frequently.
As I got into my late forties, my doctor found a
esophageal ring in my body. But nothing
was done to treat it. As time went on, I
felt very sore at the sternum all the way up to
my neck. I also had frequent
headaches. I told my doctor about it, but
again nothing was done except that he ran some
tests.
Sometimes after the
doctor's visit, I collapsed at work in my
office. My colleagues all saw me coughing
up blood. At the hospital tests revealed
that a "polyp" was formed which turned
out to be relatively big tumor. I was
horrified, to say the least.
I was referred to a
surgeon in another hospital, who appeared to be
experience and crafted in his work. But
when we sat down to talk, he confused me with
tons of technical jargons which he didn't bother
to explain. The only solid conclusion that
I got after running some of diagnostic tests was
that my chance of survival isn't great, only
10%.
Words could not express
how I felt. I searched around and another
surgeon in a different hospital. One of my
friends had referred me to him. Dr. H was
thoracic surgeon and after reviewing my X-rays
and CT scans, he recommended chemotherapy
followed by surgery. I asked him what the
5-year survival rate was using his treatment
method. "50%", Dr. H said.
"Good, I'll do it", I said, "I'll
take that over 10% any day!"
The next day I
started chemotherapy. I experienced hair
loss and other side effects, but I didn't mind
because my life was on the line. During
that time I was on strict diet, taking herbs and
drinking lots of warm water. I also
learned to give myself massages that I was
taught.
I was not nervous before
my surgery, since I've been through so much already. My
brother waited in the hospital while I was undergoing
surgery. The surgery lasted about eight hours.
The next day I woke up to see my
brother smiling at me. My recovery was quite slow.
Eventually, I was able to take in liquids and some apple
sauce. Over 1/3 of my esophagus was removed and Dr. H told
me that I was cancer free, for the time being. At the time
I was feeling so miserable I didn't even care.
Two weeks later, I was discharged
from the hospital and went to live with my brother. Most
of the time I felt very weak and I could not eat much. But
eventually, I got used to it.
It has been 39 months since my first
diagnosis and although I cannot say that I feel great, I do feel
very positive about myself. I still feel discomfort from
time to time after eating, but that's okay because I am alive
and very functional. My advice to all cancer patients
would be to hang it there. I've lived through my misery
and now life is sweet. I hope this has been of some help
to you.
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