Tom VanderGeeten Shares His Cancer Story

I was wondering why Tom arrived at the reunion too late to eat dinner and didn't stay as long as we would have liked him to. That just wasn't like him. I received the following information from Tom today and he'd like to share his story with you. Thanks, Tom. You know we wish you a full recovery and that you will be able to stay until the bitter end at the 40th with the rest of us!

I know my visit was brief so I thought I would explain:
I'm currently in a battle with cancer. My cancer is called Squamous Cell Carcinoma, found on the skin, internally and externally. Smokers often get this, although I do not smoke. I had an enlarged lymph node removed from my neck and the cancer was discovered. The doctors said it did not start in the lymph node, but after two body scans and a throat biopsy no other cancer was found. So it falls into the category of "Squamous Cell Carcinoma with unknown primary", which happens in about 10% of the cases. Good, because there was no other cancer, bad because it had to start somewhere. I need Radiation treatment to my entire neck which is where it most likely started, and close monitoring for a few years.

Prognosis is that it was caught early and I should have a normal life.Tomorrow will be the halfway point of my 31 treatments, which I get everyday except weekends. Eating is very difficult due to an intensely sore throat and lack of appetite and taste. However, I'm hanging in there and prognosis is good.
Here are pics with my Radiation mask. It's used to bolt my head to the table so I don't move. Pretty weird looking thing.

If you know of anyone who might be in a similar situation you can give them my name and e-mail. I've learned a lot about cancer in the last 2 months, and I continue to learn...and I would be happy to share what I know.