A Note from Judson – Part 2

After another overwhelming response to Jud’s first post about his cancer diagnosis and journey, he has written a second post for you today. Again, I did not write one word of this post (that sense of humor is all Jud!). So here is Part Two of Jud’s story in his own words. He wanted to share this journey from his point of view to encourage you to never stop advocating for your health and stay positive NO MATTER WHAT. 

Here’s Judson…

The next step of my journey took us to The Woodlands, TX.  We knew nothing of The Woodlands other than that’s where they could see me first. Jeanie called MD Anderson immediately after the staging CT and refused to get off the phone until I received what she believed was an acceptable appointment. Only 9 days passed between that phone call to the minute I saw the oncologist at MDA. (She’s not one to take no for an answer.) Jeanie also made contact with her cousin who lives in Lufkin, Texas to find out what “The Woodlands” entailed, what airport to choose and such. It just so happened that he and his wife had a second home in The Woodlands and offered to let us stay there throughout my treatments. The house was beautiful and only minutes from MDA. God really blessed us from the beginning, and now the story really begins.

It started on an early flight out of Meridian on an uncomfortably small plane. Fortunately, the flight to Houston and back is only about an hour. This is usually less time than it took United to diagnose and fix the plane before leaving Houston. They could have at least served tea and scones while we waited, and waited, but this world has become so uncivilized! I had to throw this in because over half of our flights out of George Bush were delayed for various reasons.

Our first day at MDA started as any new patient registration does, checking your proof of insurance! When I handed them my insurance card, little did I know it would be worse than Richard Gere handing Julia Roberts his credit card on Pretty Woman, but it did get us in to see the doctor.

We met him on September 2 and got a plan together. Let’s just say he was not a particularly upbeat person. He informed us that his goal was treatment and not a cure. There was no cure for my cancer. That was not acceptable. Fortunately, God doesn’t treat; He cures. My PET scan was scheduled a few days later. Of course, I had fast for this. You see, I don’t do fasting, and it took a long time. Then my surgery to place the port was scheduled 36 hours later. This also required me to fast, but the time of the procedure allowed me to eat a light breakfast. That was until they called to inform me that there was a cancellation, and I could come in and have it done at 11:00. There goes my breakfast…

They were running behind as you could expect, and I waited so long that it was around 2:00 before they took me back. The operation went well, but by then it had been a long time since I had anything to eat or drink. Days. Jeanie’s cousin and his wife were at the house for the weekend and planning to take us out to eat that night. Steak! I was glad to quickly get back on my feet. This is where things start to go downhill.

We were all dressed and ready to go when I started to feel a little lightheaded. I told Jeanie I needed to sit down, but I don’t even remember sitting. The next thing I do remember is my wife gripping my cheeks and talking. I told her I just needed to shut my eyes a minute or something like that and I was out again. The next thing I remember was being surrounded by EMTs.

(JC here. This is the part Jud doesn’t remember. Jud walked into the living room ready to go when he said he was woozy. He went to sit down but pitched forward. I grabbed him and pushed him back toward the couch. His face was contorted, eyes bulged, and his jaw was funny. I saw stroke written all over it. Immediately I began stroke protocol. (20 years of dealing with a mother with consistent strokes gave me this knowledge.) I was pretty sure he was having a post-op stroke when he had his first seizure. The reason he remembers me grabbing his face was because I was trying to fight his jaw. He was chewing his tongue. After this seizure, he coded. There was no response whatsoever. I’m hollering at my cousin to call 911, preparing to do CPR, when he comes back. As he starts going unconscious again, I slap the fool out of him to keep him alert. But then seizure number 2 began, and it was back to tongue chewing. Then he stops breathing again right as the doorbell rang…)

The next thing I remember was EMTs trying to start an IV and hooking up an EKG. Apparently, my heart rate was somewhere around 40 BPM, and my BP was 50/30. I got a ride to the ER in a very nice ambulance. Needless to say, I missed dinner! I take that back, sometime around 1 a.m. I got a bowl of rabbit food and 3 bags of fluid. It reminds me of that Chumbawamba song. It turns out, dehydration CAN kill you.

That my diagnosis. Two days of fasting and my normal tendency to not drink enough nearly did me in. Thanks to my wife, I survived. My cheeks were quite sore for several days from her prying my mouth open and apparently slapping the stew out of me.

After that little scare, I began treatment 48 hours later in League City. By the way, don’t go to League City if you can help it. Its rather depressing.  I would be taking Folfox: 2 hours of Oxaliplatin plus 48 hours of 5FU on a portable albatross, the pump that I would soon come to hate. What they don’t tell you is all the time it takes for pre-meds, flushing, steroids, Benadryl, etc. It took roughly 5+ hours, 6+ after they added immunotherapy three treatments later, just for a 2-hour infusion. It made for a long 56 hours…

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Part 3 is coming soon to include the backstory of all that is MD Anderson, why it is nothing like you think, and why it was the only place willing to treat Judson. And immunotherapy – that is a post unto itself! It’s not the end-all-be-all folks hope it is. This is the easy story to share. It will be much harder for Jud to share his spiritual journey with you, and that is to come in time. 

Thank you, Jud, for sharing a little piece of your heart with us – again!