Election Day Changes Our Lives

Nov. 4, 2008

Election Day, November 4, 2008, changed our lives. My beloved husband, Fred, began complaining of a sore throat in June 2008. Because he had severe allergies to grass and last summer was a particularly bad year for grass allergies, we consulted our allergist about this complaint. She thought he had post-nasal drip and prescribed a course of steroids, which Fred took religiously. No improvement. Thinking that the allergies were not the problem, he tried to get into his regular provider, but couldn’t get an appointment for over a month. By this time, it is September, and a visit to the PA (only option for an appointment) provided a course of antibiotics. No improvement. Now I am getting scared. Finally, Fred got into his regular internist, and after some gentle prodding, the doc got a mirror and found something in Fred’s throat. This was October 30th. I was really scared already, but getting an appointment with an ENT doc within 2 working days really sent my blood pressure soaring.

On the morning of the 4th, we went to the ENT doc, who looked down Fred’s throat with a scope and told us he had a tumor. With both of our professional backgrounds, Fred and I knew this was not good. We pushed to go to OHSU for a specialist consult.