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Neck Cancer: Part of Oral, Head and Neck Cancer

July 9, 2018 by
neck cancer

via youtube

 

OHNC, for oral, head and neck cancer sounds more like a government agency, as in “let’s meet at the OHNC building and go from there.”

 

Except no one wants to go anywhere near OHNC any time. Speaking from direct experience, No One Wants To Go There. Any Time.

 

But here we are.

 

Sixth Man Michael Cooper on Magic Johnson’s Showtime Lakers went there. The player who battled Larry Bird for years and broke even went there and back.

 

From ohnc.org:

 

“When I was first diagnosed in the summer of 2014, I had never heard of tongue cancer and I was stunned when I was told that the sore on my tongue was early stage cancer and I needed surgery immediately,” says Cooper. “Like with all cancers, early detection is key, and I urge everyone to get screened for oral, head and neck cancers by taking advantage of the free screenings offered during OHANCAW at hundreds of local facilities throughout the country listed on the www.headandneck.org website. The good news is that new medical advances, such as recent development in immunotherapy, are improving the chances for a full recovery but early detection is still critical.” The ball is in your court…get yourself screened!”

 

Is the ball in your court, or is your head in the sand?

 

No one wants the tongue cancer news. No one. Ever. That doesn’t mean you’re immune. What it means is you’ll have a different outcome than Michael Cooper is neck cancer, any cancer, gets a head start.

 

Cooper knows all about head starts. He’s been around.

 

(Cooper) is the only person to win a championship, as either a coach or a player, in the NBA, WNBA, and the NBA D-League.

 

And now a cancer winner?

 

The Head And Neck dot Org site is up to date on the hpv part of cancer. They don’t get into the sex cancer part like Michael Douglas, but they do explain the benefits of the virus being present.

 

It is now well known that the human papillomavirus (HPV) has emerged as a leading cause of oropharyngeal (tonsil and base of tongue) cancer, particularly in non-smokers and younger age groups. Over half of tonsil and base of tongue cancers are linked to HPV. Other mouth and throat cancers have been linked to smoking and alcohol use. However, tongue cancers and other mouth cancers can arise in anyone whether they are smokers or nonsmokers.

 

Well known? I know more than I ever did, but it took getting tongue cancer to connect the dots.

 

Any cancer can jump up on anyone. Anywhere. There are no guarantees, no get of out jail free cards, no easy way with neck cancer. Any of them. No matter how you may or may not have got it.

 

From my research, P16 showing up in a tumor is a good thing. It adds hope, more than a dash.

 

“People with oropharyngeal cancer caused by HPV have a better prognosis than those who are negative for the virus, and promising new research shows that people with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer have better outcomes with current treatment options giving them higher survival rates,” said Holly Boykin, Executive Director, Head and Neck Cancer Alliance. “These findings underscore the importance of asking your dentist and physician to hold a free screening and catching the disease early when it has a very high cure rate.”

 

I like Michael Cooper for speaking up for this most awkward neck cancer, but not surprised. I like the way he advises people to get on the defensive.
He’s always been a stopper.

 

From wiki:

 

Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the third round of the 1978 NBA draft with the 60th overall pick, Cooper became an integral part of their Showtime teams of the 1980s with his defensive skills. In a twelve-year career, he was named to eight NBA All Defensive Teams, including five First Teams. He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1987. He, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, was a member of five Lakers championship teams in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988.

At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), 174 lb (77 kg), the rail-thin Cooper known for his knee-high socks, played shooting guard, small forward, and point guard, although his defensive assignment was usually the other team’s best shooter at the 2 or 3 position. Larry Bird has said that Cooper was the best defender he faced.

 

neck cancer

Cooper checks Bird neck. via youtube

 

Early treatment is what Cooper is saying. What he isn’t saying is try alternative treatments. He isn’t saying take it easy.

 

Life is worth living all by itself. The specter of cancer doesn’t change things. The hard part is knowing you could have had a better result for a new normal.

 

Living cancer free is a goal, knowing you’re cancer free after a check up enhances the life you live. Along with loved ones. If not for yourself, do it for them. Get checked.

 

Why? Good question. If you’ve had any kind of love life, then you’ve been exposed to hpv if not hpv16. The vaccine isn’t going to work for you, but a check up with the doc or dentist will work.

 

Go in, get a good feel around, a good look in there, and say thanks. Most likely you’ll walk out the same way you walked in.

 

But if you do get tagged, do something useful with it. Me? I’m writing a memoir and blogging it up. Instead of bowing out, I jumped up on stage with conversations like this:

 

Me: It’s important to talk about hpv16 tongue cancer.
Wife: You don’t have to explain the details every time, at least when I’m there, do you?
Me: I want people to know it’s not from smoking and drinking. I don’t need that stigma.
Wife: You think it helps people?
Me: It helps me, if that matters.
Wife: It’s awkward.
Me: Tell me about it. At least I’ve got Michael Cooper on my team.
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About David Gillaspie

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Comments

  1. Sheila Connelly says
    July 10, 2018 at 5:27 pm

    Stigma… as if anyone deserves cancer because they smoke or drink or ….. have a love life!

    • David Gillaspie says
      July 11, 2018 at 7:59 am

      Or breathing air. Or drinking water. It’s a roll of the dice on health vs life, but no one deserves to wear someone’s opinion like it’s all they are.

      Heard recently: “Remember when the Big C wasn’t hanging over your head? When it was something else just hanging?”

      I didn’t ask for an interpretation.

      Thanks for coming in Sheila,

      DG

  2. Patrick says
    July 26, 2018 at 11:05 am

    Tough topic for me coming from a religious family in the Deep South. I used to toungue my girl bc I wanted to “be a virgin” when I got married. What a fool I was. The idea that I caused this is the hardest part. Il try to embrace your mentality and shed the stigma. But it’s hard.

    • David Gillaspie says
      July 26, 2018 at 2:18 pm

      Hey Patrick,

      Thanks for coming over to boomerpdx. A quick question: How did you find me and this topic. I write about it a lot, but not too many show up in comments like you. I’m glad you’ll try and shed the stigma. Here’s another important part of the problem not many get into the way they ought to.

      It’s pretty established that hpv causes cervical cancer in women, but not all hpv is cancer causing. You’ve heard about this. If a woman does have a cancer causing hpv, and you get busy with her, there’s a transfer of hpv. In the wrong brain this could cause a backlash against women. We know it’s part of the program, but a woman hater would have a field day bashing women for their cancer. I don’t see that in your comment.

      Sex is awkward enough. Sex cancer takes it to the extreme. But it’s all a roll of the dice. One day in the office with a hospital social worker I thought she was feeling useless. I know I was, but I wanted to lift the mood a little, so I complained that hpv16 tongue cancer had to be the worst of the worst. Awful. I noticed her working up a response, doing her job. I had to see her as part of the treatment.

      “This is the worst of the worst,” I said.
      “Not really,” she said.

      Now I was intrigued. I didn’t do a lot of research on hpv, at least not as much as it had done on me.

      “I don’t know. This is bad, really, really bad. I can’t tell you how bad,” I said, laying it on for her benefit. It was bad, but I expected bad.
      She gave me a level look, nodding her head and said, “Symptoms of hpv can manifest on your penis and rectum.”

      I took an involuntary gulp of air. She was right, it could be worse.

      “So you’re telling me my takeaway today is be glad I don’t have butt cancer?” I said.
      “In so many words that about sums it up,” she said.

      I burst out laughing.

      “I was trying to make it a better day for you, and you got me. Man, I feel better already,” I said.
      “Not everyone comes in with your attitude, but when they do it makes all of our days better. When’s your next appointment?” she said.

      She was prepared to be part of my support group, whatever that is in a professional sense. She already was.

      Whenever I feel down and the idea that I caused this, brought it on myself, I think of the Rolling Stones logo, and Gene Simmons of KISS, two examples of rock and roll tongue. I think of Michael Jordan flapping his tongue around. Those guys have a tongue thing going, like a brand, and here we are with the consequences without the fame. What to do? Here’s what I do:

      Cancer is the trump card, like the queen of hearts, to most other disease. Sure there’s worse, but cancer has it’s own voodoo of evil associated. When I talk to people about health I listen to them, not talk about me, right up until I cut them off and educate them. One of my buddies had open heart surgery and took it hard. Lots of side effects. Here’s what he heard:

      “You know I had cancer? The first thing I learned was it wasn’t MY cancer. I wasn’t special, singled out for cancer, anymore than you were singled out for your heart. But here we are. It happened. It’s in the past, but the whole ordeal creeps up and scares us to death when we don’t expect. Learn to lock that shit down. You lost weight? You’re wearing the same clothes you had before and they sag on you. It’s a small thing but the way you look is a reminder you don’t need. You’re thinner, so get clothes that fit. Make a style statement instead of a ‘what the hell happened to me’ statement. Start the rebuilding process. Make something stronger. Your grip, your calf muscle, your stretching routine, something. Do something new, anything better than you’ve ever done, and let it snowball into the next thing, then the next and the next and the next. Make your New Normal a brighter day.”

      He said he wanted his Old Normal back. Who doesn’t? But we’ve got to know better than to live in remorse. Just today one of my gym pals pulled his shirt collar down to show me the scar and lump of his new pacemaker. We compared scars, mine being from the chemo port in my chest. Before I left the gym another guy stopped and told me about his emergency due to too much salt. Our New Normal is being present for others more frightened than us, if that’s possible. I scare easily, but the trick is to lock it down where it can do some good.

      And that, Patrick, is the way out. Doubt and depression and a downward spiral gives cancer and cancer treatment the win instead of you. You’re a winner, not a whiner, and I know the difference from being both.