henry494
Senior Member
Fellow FordBarners,
On August 2, 2010, at 10:28 pm, Marco Tahtaras posted the following;
A friend of many of us and fairly active poster from time to time can use your best thoughts and prayers. The awkward part will be clear as you read on. While remaining positive he's been quite private about his battle with cancer in part to avoid what he feels would be undue sympathy. Not many were aware of his past battle or the recent recurrence that came on strong the last 4-6 weeks. He reiterated to me just last week how he was uncomfortable going public and "making a big to-do" about it.
Well, I was aware of his scheduled surgery early today and cautiously awaited word. After awakening from surgery he was heavily medicated as one might expect. In that groggy state (and the doctors telling him more than he could possibly digest) he got my number up on his cell and told his wife to tell me to post a message. He really needs any and all support that can be mustered at this time. He still has issues requiring close monitoring and is expected to be in ICU for couple days. It's still scary.
Back to "awkward". I'm not so sure how he will actually regard his request to post when the heavy meds taper off. His wife felt similarly. I almost posted nothing but that just wouldn't be right at this time. I'm sorry for the contradiction in that I feel the need to go public on his behalf but still protect his privacy. Some of you will know or guess who our friend is and others may never know.
Again, a friend can use your best thoughts and prayers.
PLEASE do not publicly throw any guesses or names out here.
Thanks...
Update from Dave Lopes, “Henry494”
My wife Lisa, initiated this posting with Marco through my insistence after surgery. As noted, I was drugged and don’t have any recall of the conversation with Lisa about FordBarn. However, I know the power of support from friends far and wide, some we may know well, others we only know a little, and in some cases, we don’t actually know at all. But, at the time I spoke with Lisa after surgery, I knew I was in trouble and needed all the help I could get, so I turned to you, Fellow FordBarners, for more support.
I was diagnosed with throat cancer in mid-2009, and underwent radiation and chemo therapies. All went well until June of this year, when I began to get ill again. Right after our return from our French Lick vacation, I got it checked out, and the cancer had returned. I got hooked up with a fantastic surgeon at USC Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles. The speed at which USC moved turned out to be critical to my situation, and a real blessing. I underwent surgery August 2nd. It turned into a 4 ½ hour surgery as they found the tumors had really spread quickly. They used a “trans-oral” robot, which is a machine that two surgeons guided via computer, to do the tumor removal. This is incredible technology, which permitted far more precise surgery than ever possible by human hands. The tentacles of the tumors went from the back of the throat to base of the spine, and upwards from the throat to the left side of the skull. It was very invasive surgery, and they discovered the left carotid artery had been completely closed by the radiation treatments I received in 2009, as well as other damaged areas in my neck and head. That’s just collateral damage in trying to kill the cancer. Two days of intensive care and eleven days of intensive care “step down,” and I was ready to get out of there. Got home the evening of the 14th. My recovery road will be long, and as of now, we are not sure what else is in my path. My speech and ability to swallow is severely limited, and I will continue therapy to improve that situation. Additional chemo treatments are likely, but not yet determined. However, I am home with my family.
During all of this, our son Mitchell, had to depart for his freshman year at the University of Notre Dame, his first choice “dream school” that he worked so hard to get into. He was honored with academic scholarships, and will be studying aerospace engineering. He had to leave early because he also joined the Naval ROTC program, and will also audition on the trumpet for the Notre Dame Marching Band. With me down, the timing was bad, as we had planned to go with Mitchell. I hope you can hear my buttons bursting from pride as this is being typed.
You can see how all of this was adding up to an emotional volcano. As Marco noted, I do tend to keep pretty private, that’s just my way. And, I thank Marco and my wife for keeping it private at that time, they know me so well, but in this case, my need for more help overwhelmed my normal style. Then, my request to have Marco post a plea for support was validated immediately. Every day, Lisa brought responses and read them to me. Short or long, they all got to me. I am not able to describe to you folks how much your support means to me, and how much it contributed to me being able to keep pushing forward, which at times, was a struggle, and will be for some time coming. I am sharing very personal info with all of you today as an attempt to express my (And all of my family’s’) deep gratitude for your thoughtfulness. I cannot find the proper words to truly express our thanks.
Please accept, “Thank You,” and know that I mean it many times over.
I will most likely not be on the computer, e-mail, Internet, for a while. I’m just not yet able. Lisa will keep me connected, as she is actually typing and posting this for me in my words. I needed to let you know how I felt about your support and prayers.
Dave Lopes
“Henry494”
On August 2, 2010, at 10:28 pm, Marco Tahtaras posted the following;
A friend of many of us and fairly active poster from time to time can use your best thoughts and prayers. The awkward part will be clear as you read on. While remaining positive he's been quite private about his battle with cancer in part to avoid what he feels would be undue sympathy. Not many were aware of his past battle or the recent recurrence that came on strong the last 4-6 weeks. He reiterated to me just last week how he was uncomfortable going public and "making a big to-do" about it.
Well, I was aware of his scheduled surgery early today and cautiously awaited word. After awakening from surgery he was heavily medicated as one might expect. In that groggy state (and the doctors telling him more than he could possibly digest) he got my number up on his cell and told his wife to tell me to post a message. He really needs any and all support that can be mustered at this time. He still has issues requiring close monitoring and is expected to be in ICU for couple days. It's still scary.
Back to "awkward". I'm not so sure how he will actually regard his request to post when the heavy meds taper off. His wife felt similarly. I almost posted nothing but that just wouldn't be right at this time. I'm sorry for the contradiction in that I feel the need to go public on his behalf but still protect his privacy. Some of you will know or guess who our friend is and others may never know.
Again, a friend can use your best thoughts and prayers.
PLEASE do not publicly throw any guesses or names out here.
Thanks...
Update from Dave Lopes, “Henry494”
My wife Lisa, initiated this posting with Marco through my insistence after surgery. As noted, I was drugged and don’t have any recall of the conversation with Lisa about FordBarn. However, I know the power of support from friends far and wide, some we may know well, others we only know a little, and in some cases, we don’t actually know at all. But, at the time I spoke with Lisa after surgery, I knew I was in trouble and needed all the help I could get, so I turned to you, Fellow FordBarners, for more support.
I was diagnosed with throat cancer in mid-2009, and underwent radiation and chemo therapies. All went well until June of this year, when I began to get ill again. Right after our return from our French Lick vacation, I got it checked out, and the cancer had returned. I got hooked up with a fantastic surgeon at USC Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles. The speed at which USC moved turned out to be critical to my situation, and a real blessing. I underwent surgery August 2nd. It turned into a 4 ½ hour surgery as they found the tumors had really spread quickly. They used a “trans-oral” robot, which is a machine that two surgeons guided via computer, to do the tumor removal. This is incredible technology, which permitted far more precise surgery than ever possible by human hands. The tentacles of the tumors went from the back of the throat to base of the spine, and upwards from the throat to the left side of the skull. It was very invasive surgery, and they discovered the left carotid artery had been completely closed by the radiation treatments I received in 2009, as well as other damaged areas in my neck and head. That’s just collateral damage in trying to kill the cancer. Two days of intensive care and eleven days of intensive care “step down,” and I was ready to get out of there. Got home the evening of the 14th. My recovery road will be long, and as of now, we are not sure what else is in my path. My speech and ability to swallow is severely limited, and I will continue therapy to improve that situation. Additional chemo treatments are likely, but not yet determined. However, I am home with my family.
During all of this, our son Mitchell, had to depart for his freshman year at the University of Notre Dame, his first choice “dream school” that he worked so hard to get into. He was honored with academic scholarships, and will be studying aerospace engineering. He had to leave early because he also joined the Naval ROTC program, and will also audition on the trumpet for the Notre Dame Marching Band. With me down, the timing was bad, as we had planned to go with Mitchell. I hope you can hear my buttons bursting from pride as this is being typed.
You can see how all of this was adding up to an emotional volcano. As Marco noted, I do tend to keep pretty private, that’s just my way. And, I thank Marco and my wife for keeping it private at that time, they know me so well, but in this case, my need for more help overwhelmed my normal style. Then, my request to have Marco post a plea for support was validated immediately. Every day, Lisa brought responses and read them to me. Short or long, they all got to me. I am not able to describe to you folks how much your support means to me, and how much it contributed to me being able to keep pushing forward, which at times, was a struggle, and will be for some time coming. I am sharing very personal info with all of you today as an attempt to express my (And all of my family’s’) deep gratitude for your thoughtfulness. I cannot find the proper words to truly express our thanks.
Please accept, “Thank You,” and know that I mean it many times over.
I will most likely not be on the computer, e-mail, Internet, for a while. I’m just not yet able. Lisa will keep me connected, as she is actually typing and posting this for me in my words. I needed to let you know how I felt about your support and prayers.
Dave Lopes
“Henry494”
Chet & Gloria Wojcik
