I always wanted to be the one to give thanks where it’s due after a performance or as part of a book, in this case a document. This is my chance. I want to send my deepest gratitude and thanks to every one of my children. Without them, I would not be here now to share this story with you. Without them, my life would not be worth living. They inspire me and for that I am sincerely grateful. A special thanks to Mr. Robert Mehrman who helped me a great deal with information for my program, Robert you are the best. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read My Own Personal Story. Copyright 1999, Marlene All Rights Reserved ©5146363©

Update from Marlene, December, 2006:

I’ve been in and out of the hospitals since my first surgery with one surgery after the other had 3 big lumps appear inside my mouth and a growth I thought was a wart on my nose. The doctor wanted to get the lumps out of my mouth and I asked him if while he did that, could he snip that thing off my nose. The lab results showed the lumps in my mouth were nothing, but the wart turned out to be cancer.

In 2005, I lost my job of 15 years due to downsizing, so my sons moved me to Kansas to live with them and I filed for disability. Soon after I moved, I started having trouble swallowing. Then it turned to painful inability to swallow. Antibiotic time again, but they did not help. The doctors checked and checked, but could not find anything; the CT scan came up clean. The squeaky wheel always gets the oil so I kept squeaking. I got aggravated and changed doctors after I joined Victory In The Valley in Wichita, Kansas. Executive director, Diane Thomi, was an oncology nurse for over 40 years and she suggested someone I should see. I changed doctors under her recommendation. The new doctor sent me for a PET scan and found cancer at the base of my tongue. He confirmed it with a biopsy. I started treatments of two pin pointed radiation treatments per day along with two different kinds of chemotherapy. I was on this regimen for about 3 months, and ended up in the hospital completely dehydrated for a week. I was very sick. I am still under care for this cancer. I just had another PET scan and a CT scan, one of which came back bad, so this month the doctor is doing another biopsy that will tell us once for all if the treatments got it all. If not, they will either cut my tongue open and install radiation seeds directly into my cancer, or I’ll have to go to Kansas City to have my tongue removed.
I have been in the best of moods, and I actually feel good so I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much. But, I can’t help feeling the cancer is gone. I now have 4 grandsons, the sweetest little guys you have ever seen. I babysit and we have a great time. I love those guys with all of my heart. You can contact Marlene directly at: marlene@livetodayandtomorrow.com. She also has a website dedicated to laryngectomy, oral and throat cancer: livetodayandtomorrow.com

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