Joe's 911 First Responder Ongoing Cancer Battle

During the summer of 2019 Joe started experiencing hoarseness in his voice. He went to 2 ENT specialists and completed endoscopies of his throat, but did not find anything that would cause the change in his voice.  
They ordered scans, which also showed nothing to cause the hoarseness, but did locate tumors in his abdomen, which led to biopsies showing that Joe had indolent B-cell  lymphoma.  The oncologist evaluated and determined the best course of action was "active surveillance" to watch the activity, since at this time it was not causing any symptoms or pain. (Nov 2019)

Joe is a retired Federal Agent, in September 2019 Joe was asked to volunteer at a conference to represent his former agency, at this time Joe was suffering from chronic bronchitis & sinusitis. His former co-worker encouraged him to register with the World Trade Center and be evaluated for his conditions because many of the first responders from 9/11 had similar illnesses. It was at that time it was determined that the lymphoma was from the toxins at the site where Joe had worked during the recovery efforts at the Pentagon following the 9/11 attacks. 

Fast forward to March of 2020, during the beginning of COVID, Joe's voice continued to get worse. By May 2020 Joe was fatigued, winded, and could hardly whisper,  we found an ENT that would do another endoscopy. At this time it was discovered he had a tumor on his vocal cord that was blocking his airway. The surgeon completed  a biopsy and was discovered he has squamous cell carcinoma; Laryngeal Cancer. 

Joe's extensive medical file was also being evaluated by the World Trade Center experts and doctors and it was determined that the Laryngeal Cancer was also from the toxins inhaled during recovery efforts while working at the site after the 9/11 attacks.

In June Joe started Chemotherapy & Radiation treatments. The Chemo drug Cisplatin was given in cycles, and the radiation treatments were given daily (5 days per week).
During the course of treatment, Joe was hospitalized 4 times due to complications from the treatments.
By the end of  August of 2020 he had undergone 38 radiation treatments and 5 rounds of chemotherapy. 
TIME to recover!! 

The oncology team continued to monitor Joe during recovery and scheduled his PET scan December 2, 2020 to allow enough time for the  radiation treatments to his throat to calm down. 
The PET Scan showed the tumor on larynx was gone --- Joe's in Remission!! 

However the B-cell lymphoma in the abdomen shows the tumors are increased in size and there is more metabolic activity. The oncologist has now set up a treatment plan called
 R-CHOP for the B-Cell lymphoma. During this time, Joe's voice got hoarse again, and on December 30, 2020 endoscopy showed a new growth on his vocal cord.

January 4, 2021 the biopsy showed the growth was benign. His surgeon advised healing time from biopsy is approximately 1-2 weeks and his voice will get back to normal, unfortunately his voice got worse. 
 On  Feb 2, 2021 another endoscopy showed another growth that was bigger than the original tumor found in May of 2020,  another biopsy completed on Feb 6, 2021 determined the laryngeal cancer had returned and was aggressive. 
The surgeon recommended a total laryngectomy to remove the cancer. This surgery would remove Joe's voice box and he would also need to have  a permanent tracheostomy. This seemed very aggressive since Joe was in "remission" less than 60 days ago and had a 90% chance of cure from the Chemo/Radiation treatments he went through the summer of 2020.

We decided to determine best option for surgery and were getting multiple opinions - In addition, Joe started and completed 4 weekly treatments of Rituxan for the lymphoma - he is now fighting 2 forms of cancer at the same time.

We found a surgeon in NYC at Mt Sinai  that was an expert on a procedure called the CHEP, which is a partial laryngectomy. This is a complex surgery, but would save his voice box and avoid a permanent tracheostomy.  
On March 3, 2021 Joe underwent the 5.5 hour surgery to remove the cancerous tumor, reconstruct his vocal cords, place a temporary tracheostomy, and a feeding tube.
Joe spent 18 days at Mt Sinai Hospital in NYC healing from the surgery.
The recovery will take lengthy time, and many follow up appointments and learning to swallow and speak again.  The feeding tube has been removed, and he is strictly allowed a liquid diet. The tracheostomy will remain in place for an undetermined period as he is evaluated by the surgeon and therapy team.
The next 2 months will include weekly trips to NYC for endoscopies, speech and swallow therapy.

Donations will be used to cover this almost two year battle with numerous medical expenses not covered by insurance, travel and lodging expenses due to hospitals and clinics being hours away, special nutritional needs, and equipment for home care.