As one of my kin use to say, I don't know if I would have told that on myself, but figure what the heck may help that young confident cocky group coming up or those about to face it. Most of ya'll that have read my blog or know me, know that I had throat cancer on my vocal cords about six years back and had to undergo radiation treatment to get over it. To get my voice back I started singing (something I very seldom did in my younger days) and I got to enjoy it a lot. Somehow you always remember the really tough times of your life and how you fought back. I sung a very weak voice back to full strength and full volume. Those types of comebacks become very special to you. I feel the same way about that old house in Bessemer as it was the beginning of getting my life back. Well lately I have been sounding like my sister in law Barbara; if you name it I most likely have it. One of the things they tell you at the end of throat cancer treatment is that you will be on acid reflux pills the rest of your life as the radiation weakens that muscle in your throat that closes after you swallow to keep the acid from coming back up in your throat. I could look up the proper name but hell you do the research. I have been on pills for that about 5 years and have had to fight the insurance company at almost every refill. So down the road I find that I am waking up often at night and then the doc puts me through a sleep study and says I have sleep apnea and puts me on a CPAP machine. I have to tell you I don't much care for the CPAP machine but Genny says I snore to loud if I don't wear it. So I try but I find that I take it off sometime in the night and don't even remember doing so.
So it is right about here where the liquor comes in. I have been drinking beer for a long time and have built a high tolerance for it but you very seldom saw me drinking any liquor. Gave that up about Lauren and Greg's age when I would have those flashbacks the next day about making such an ass of myself the night before. You know one of those flash backs where you say I ain't believing I did that shit!
It turns out that another result of the radiation treatment is that your sinus does not drain as well as it use to and especially if you smoke (yeah dumb ass still does). This will leave you with a film of mucus on your throat that makes it difficult to sing. It is kind of funny that every Friday night around six I would get this sneezing attack that would completely open up my head and throat. My voice would become very clear and I would tell Genny the lord is calling me to Karaoke. She would respond well the lord is telling me to go to bed and watch TV, so have a good time.
Trying to think back I think it was another singer who told me one night that the Honey whiskey works real well for removing the mucus from your throat. He got me a shot and it worked great. I had been taking decongestant pills before going out but those things wired me like drinking Red Bull or something. I know that is strange as it makes most people go to sleep. So I got me a bottle and at first would only have a shot right before going singing. As time went on I got to where I wanted a shot right before my last song of the night. One of the side benefits was that when I went home it made me sleep real good which a person who normally wakes up many times in the night due to sleep apnea really enjoys. There are mornings where I really have a hard time getting out of bed due to lack of good sound sleep.
So like any good thing (yeah right) fairly soon it was a shot before going to bed every night and then maybe two, my tolerance building all the time or so I thought. For the last couple of months I have been drinking a fifth every four to five days. Well it came to past that I woke up with a sore throat that didn't seem to go away. I could have dealt with many other health problems better I think but anything with my throat scares me bad. So what does not the brightest bulb in the house do when he gets home every night! That is right numb it with some honey whiskey. Well the throat continues to get worse so I finally break down and make an ENT appointment with the doc that found the cancer the first time. I really hate those appointments as every time they do the scope up your nose and down your throat examination and I knew it was coming if I went in but figured the peace of mind would be worth the pain.
Like all good patients now days I go on the internet and do some research and have determined the cause as acid reflux. I also research the drug I am taking and find that it is the highest rated and that I am already taking the highest does available. So what is the doctor going to do?
The day of my appointment arrives and two nights before I had been depressed about the possibilities of what he would find and have finished off one quarter fifth of whiskey in one night. The throat was twice as bad the next morning. This lady doctor comes in to the exam room and tells me she is Dr. Magnuson's assistant and takes down my symptoms. I have researched this thing to death as my father use to do and promptly tell her it is acid reflux and what the internet said. She smiles reaches over and grabs the nose and throat numbing medicine and says I know he will want to do a scope on you so may as well get you numb now. Oh hell the scope I hate that damn thing.
Now over the last five to six years I have gone thru about 15 of this procedure and I know how deep they go and how long it usually takes. But when Dr. Magnuson's assistant does it this time she spends a long time (maybe twice as long) down my throat and she seems to go deeper. When she pulls it out I say, well? I know based on years at the VA that assistant's or technicians usually have a very good idea of what is going on but it is a big no no for them to tell the patient. That is the doctor's job. She says has your ear been hurting any I say yes, have a hard time swallowing? Yes. She frown's and I ask based on the possibilities "Are those good questions or bad questions doc"? She looks at me with a kind of sad look in her eye and says I am not going to lie to you I am concerned. She leaves and says Dr. Magnuson will be in shortly. It took about what seemed like forty minutes for him to come in and I re-found religion during that time.
So you sit there in that quite room and say in your head this is worse than before, last time it was only you vocal cord, your whole throat was not sore. The cancer has moved into your lymph nodes or something and if so that will be the end of you. So then you start praying and my praying went back in forth with two different messages. The first of course was the biggie, please Lord remove from my body any cancer I may have and restore my health, in Jesus dear name I pray. So then logic would come in and I would say to myself, Art that is kind of a dumb prayer as the Lord takes care of those that listen to him and he has been telling you to give up the smokes for at least 20 years. Accept your fate (man up) and tell the Lord you know what ever may come your way, you know is the Lord's plan for you and you are prepared to accept it. Dear Lord I know I have not been the best at listening to you and I want you to know that I believe in you and I am prepared to live and die as you wish, you have provided me with a good life and I appreciate it, I am prepared to come home if you wish. In Jesus dear name I pray.
So after about three of four of these prayers going back and forth my Doctor comes in the room. A little on Dr. Magnuson. He is cocky no non sense kind of doctor who calls it as he sees it and he don't pull no punch's. I like him as that is the kind of Doctor I need. He comes in and I look him the eye and he says what is wrong. I say I am worried doc; she spent a lot of time in my throat. He looks at the pictures on the monitor and then looks at me for about 20 seconds for the effect. How much whiskey you drink a night? I say two shots (more like four). He says well what you have I can't do a thing for you but you can completely heal it. It will require a life style change. He states you have a very bad case of acid reflux. He says while that whiskey may help you sleep it also relaxes the muscle that closes and keeps the acid from coming up your throat. You drink too much and the acid acts like a blow torch on your throat. What time you go to bed at night. I say 9 o'clock. He says no drinking past six. I kind of smile at that and say six o'clock that all doc? I think I can live with that. He says I am trying to be realistic as I have told you to quit smoking for five years and you haven't paid me any attention on that. I will tell you now that if you don't make some life style changes your cancer is going to come back and I will end up doing surgery to take your voice box out. He then looks over my chart and says I don't see you enough I need to see you regular. Set up an appointment to come see me again in 4 months. I say thank you doc I will pay attention, I will follow your directions I will do it for you, you will see in 4 months. He gets that cocky smile on his face and says you are not doing it for me, I like surgery. I say yeah doc I know that is where you make your real money.
Art Nalley
Redneck Heritage Network
@2001
