The Beginning

I am finally getting  some of the emails but onto this blog site. This was the first one. 

April 4, 2005
This is the first chance I have had to write any details of our trial.  It seems like this has been consuming our lives forever and it has been five days!  So much has happened already so here goes.
    When we first began with Usana supplements19 months ago, we were all amazed at Bill's new energy. He stopped sleeping all day Saturdays and completed old projects, etc.  Then after about 7 or 8 months, he began to flag a little- he still had good energy and could handle his very stressful job, etc. He had off and on inflamed lymph nodes and a short, barky cough.  But he felt ok and we ignored what seem like very obvious signs now!  Finally in February, after another bout of flu like symptoms and sore throat, he decided he should see a doctor. So in late March ( do you see the pattern here.... don't procrastinate!) , Bill went to the doctor with inflamed lymph nodes, a sore throat, a tightness in his ears and some blood in his saliva.
     The doctor immediately ordered a CT scan which Bill had on March 28th. They said it would be read on Friday and that there were no appointments for retirees at Bethesda. So when he got a phone call on Tuesday with an appointment for Thursday,  we should have suspected bad news.  On Thursday, March 31st, we went up to Bethesda Naval Medical Center- the same hospital that treats the president of the United States. We are in good hands! 

     Nonetheless, to hear the doctors say that there is a large mass on your tongue and they are 90% sure it is malignant is the shock of your life. I must say that there is an amazing grace that fills this situation.  We have cried and ached and been terrified; and we have laughed, argued, loved and learned way too much about cancer. But we have never doubted God's love and grace and His abiding Presence.  

     On Thursday, we saw several ENT doctors who poked, prodded, scoped and put their hands down Bill's throat. We had had a lovely breakfast that morning and it was only God who kept it in Bill. They removed tissue for a biopsy and did a needle aspiration on Bill's lymph node. Note- I, Kathy, have no formal medical training and don't have a clue how to spell half the stuff we heard. Bear with me... We also saw a dentist who did a periodontal exam and an oral surgeon who scared us with graphic descriptions of the possible ramifications of traditional cancer treatments.  Then it was off to a chest x-ray.  
 
By the time the day was over, it was sinking in that life had just taken a shocking turn and that we were facing some very hard times ahead