KARYN VESCIO

Karyn’s Story

It is the spring of 1999 and the nagging toothache is back again. I had been to the dentist several times over the last few years and they assured me that everything was fine. And besides, if you have a bad tooth, the pain doesn’t go away. But mine would come and go with no pattern. At the time I never realized that the earache that would also come and go would be related, but they were. By the time I can make another dentist appointment, it is June. And again the dentist said that my teeth were fine.

Forward to winter 1999 and my husband is offered a job in Phoenix, Arizona. We decide to move. In the summer of 2000 I have days of pretty severe pain, but it always goes away. Finally in October 2000 I decide to go to the dentist again. This new dentist in Phoenix tells me the same thing. My teeth are fine. That night I decide to look into my mouth and I see a lump in the roof of my mouth. I touch it and it doesn’t hurt, but I show it to my husband. Why hadn’t the dentist said anything about this? It didn’t look right to me so I called my doctor. He said it was probably nothing and referred me to an ENT specialist.

The ENT tries to do a needle biopsy. The biopsy is unsuccessful and he schedules a surgical biopsy for December 29, 2000. The biopsy is positive for ACC. The ENT refers me to another ENT with cancer experience. My surgery is February 2001 and the left side of the roof of my mouth is removed up to the ear. Clear margins are not possible due to the tumor involvement in my ear. Radiation starts in March and continues for 8 weeks. I have a harder time than most because I cannot take pain medication without extreme nausea. I cannot eat. I can only drink my food, as everything burns my mouth and throat terribly. This side effect has stayed with me to this day (2004). I have lost a total of 75 pounds and 8 dress sizes.

I continue with MRI scans to monitor my head and neck for signs of recurring cancer, and CT scans every 6 months to look for metastases (the spread of cancer). In October 2002, my CT shows lung metastases (“mets”). Another one in March 2003 shows that lung mets are growing and multiplying. I decide to wait it out and do nothing.

November 2003 and another CT shows that the lung tumors are over 70 in number and the largest has doubled in size since March. So now it is time to do something, but what? I research and look at possible chemo treatments and decide if the next CT shows more growth, then I will start with Xeloda. The CT in March 2004 shows another 25% growth and continual multiplication of small tumors, so we start with Xeloda. I am hopeful that this will help with this battle of this unpredictable cancer.