I know that some of you have heard that Willie has been having a rough time lately with his health. As most people know, Willie had heart surgery in 2004 and following that, he had throat cancer. The road to recovery was tough but he managed it. Since then he has no taste, no saliva and up unto this point, he had been in remission. He went from 205 to 140 pounds. This was a very trying time for him. I guess there is no easy way of saying this...Willie once again has cancer. This time it is in his esophagus, just behind the right side of his voice box. We are now waiting on an auth from his insurance to have another pet scan done to see how extensive it is. The last scan was about 5 months ago. He has lost quite a bit of weight from not being able to eat, due to food seeping into his trachea. I have been feeding him nutritional drinks with protein whey powder, custard, yogurt, puddings and cream of chicken soup. Not much for intake, but he is somehow surviving. They will be putting in a feeding tube to build his weight up a little.
Once they find out how extensive the cancer is they will be looking at three different treatments. The first of which, surgery. They will remove the cancer which means loss of his voice box. They will give him a tracheotomy and then possible chemo and possible radiation. We are still in the pre-stages of treatment, so all of this could or could not take place. We will let everyone know as soon as we know. I promise to keep you up to date.
All I ask is that you all send out your prayers and prayer for his complete recovery.
We are hoping to make the October meet, if all goes well. Willie doesn't want anyone to dwell on his condition, so if we do show up, please refrain from bringing the "C" subject up. He would like to get away from all of the doctors and relax for just a bit. We will let everyone know what is happening as soon as we get the word.
Thanks
Sheri buchta
