Will the Real Mr. Chang Please Stand Up

On December 3, 2009 I was informed that I had a very rare form of cancer called Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (if you want to know more go to the American Cancer Society's webpage www.cancer.org). Okay it's rare if you are:
A. A Woman
B. Under 50
C. Living in the US

It's not so rare if you are:
A. A man
B. Over 50
C. Living in China

If you are screaming SERIOUSLY at the top of your lungs join the club (which currently includes a multitude of doctors, family, friends and of course me).

A little background is important here I think. In September of 2008 I discovered I was unexpectedly pregnant. One of the joyous side effects other than throwing up for nine months was severe rhinitis and sinusitis. As the symptoms of continued to worsen I started to go to an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor (they are also known as otolaryngologists). Unfortunately she was unable to do much because of the pregnancy. She along with my OB/GYN assured me it was normal and would go away after the baby was born. As my pregnancy progressed so did the congestion, I was unable to breathe through my nose, smell or taste. As my due date drew near I also began to suffer from almost daily bloody noses that would sometimes last all day. Each time I would see my ENT she would remind me that as soon as I had the baby things would get better, there was really nothing she could do and I had the WORST case of pregnancy rhinitis she'd ever seen.

Well, May 14th arrived and I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. There was no change to my nose however. In June I traveled to Minnesota to be with my boyfriend and was referred to another ENT. He prescribed a steroid which seemed like it was heaven sent. It gave me a lot of energy (amazing for a sleep deprived mom) and opened up my nasal passages. Unfortunately once I stopped taking the steroids everything closed back up. When I finally returned to Texas my ENT suggested surgery to clean everything out.

Finally, on November 30th after almost a year of not breathing through my nose I went in for surgery. The plan was to do bilateral endoscopic surgery of my sinuses, correct my deviated septum and remove my adenoids. While in recovery the ENT came in and told me that everything went well, my adenoids were still inflamed so they were sending the tissue to be biopsied. No one was concerned it was just routine at least that was my impression but I can't be held accountable for that I was just waking up from anesthesia.

On December 3rd the call came that I wasn't expecting to receive and the doctor was not expecting to have to make. Not only did I have cancer but it was something mainly asian men got. Apparently multiple pathologists and doctors looked to make sure that the first guy wasn't on crack. I was assured that the diagnosis was correct and totally unexpected.

Well now it's three days before Christmas, and three days after Christmas I will begin my first round of Chemotherapy and begin nearly seven weeks of radiation. The doctors see no reason that at the end of the treatment I won't be in remission if not cured. See though this crazy naso-thing is rare the treatment is highly successful.

I don't know how much I'll be able to post once treatment is in full swing but I hope to keep friends and family up to date here. Once things really get going I will have a killer sore throat so this seemed a better way to communicate than the phone.

I still would like the real Mr. Chang to please stand up and take his rightful place on this journey I'm about to embark on but for now I'll just keep laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.