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During the fall and spring of 1999-2000 I suffered from a recurring bout of sore throat problems. The doctor would put me on antibiotics, it would clear up and then return. I was then diagnosed with sleep apnea. I was put on a c-pap machine to help me breathe as I slept. The machine burned out, even while set on its highest pressure setting. This happened two or three times.
I paid a visit to a nurse at the VA clinic and she advised me to go see an ear, nose, throat specialist at the VA hospital. I did, in May of 2000. He took one look and said, "I don't like what I see." He set me up to see a VA surgeon. Weeks went by and I was getting worse. Phone calls to the VA only responded in, "It'll be a few more days." Feeling that my life was now seriously threatened, I had my wife find a local Ears, nose, throat specialist. He, Doctor Gary C. Lulenski of Saint Joseph, Michigan, examined me on Monday and had me on the operating table by that Friday.
I nearly died on the operating table! I lost a lot of blood and my airway was so obstructed the specialist that was assigned to provide me an open airway for the surgery nearly failed in his attempts. The doctor said later that he came very close to having to, "Come in from the other side".
The mass was removed and it was soft, leading the doctor to assume it was benign. A biopsy was inconclusive so it was sent to a second lab for analysis. This time it came back malignant.
While the doctor claimed he was sure he got it all, he couldn't guarantee it. He claimed he had never came across a cancer like this, in that it was positioned in an area of my throat, near my tonsils (which had to come out) and that he felt the only reason it had not appeared to have spread to other areas, and my lymph nodes, was that the muscles in my throat had it so constricted that it, "Couldn't get out of the bag".
I had a couple of follow-up check ups and the doctor sent me for an MRI. He said he saw another mass. The MRI detected an abnormality and I was set up for an "exploratory surgery". Before the surgery the doctor explained that if there was another mass and it had to be removed it would be done by another specialist, one that might have to remove part of my jaw.
The night before the "exploratory" I was given a "blessing" by two of my church "Elders".
The exploratory was performed and when I awoke the doctor said, "I don't know what happened to the mass. It's gone." I wasn't shy when I told him, "I know what happened to it" and went on to tell him of the "blessing".
His words were, "Well, what ever you're doing, keep doing it."
A few weeks later, after some more check-ups, I was told by a "continuing care nurse" working in conjunction with my medical insurance carrier, "Most people with throat cancer don't live past five years".
Well folks, here it is 2007 and I'm still here. The doctor checks me every six-months, the last time in July. No sign of the cancer and he says, "You're out of the woods".
As a tribute to Doctor Lulenski I had a plaque made up for him and his Staff. I also gave him special acknowledgment in the first part of my book, Dreams In Blue: The Real Police.
Call his office at 269-428-3442 and tell him that you read this blog. Tell him, his patient, Richard Neal Huffman, will always be in his debt.
Thank you,
Richard Neal Huffman
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