Quick Summary of My Stage 4 Head & Neck Cancer
Hello. I am Mike Milligan. I am a general dentist in Illinois. I am a founding member, past board member, and past president of the American Academy for Oral & Systemic Health – the #1 organization in the world for bringing together physicians, dentists, and allied healthcare professionals for the better overall health of their patients. I am founder and president of OralSystemicLink.net, “Saving Lives through Oral-Systemic Health.”
On 7/9/19, I had my first nosebleed ever, a bad nosebleed that it took 1 ½ hours in the hospital to stop. My ear/nose/throat (ENT) physician told me if it happens again to come back. Then nearly a year later in mid-April, 2020, I had a second nosebleed, and on June 3 and June 4, 2020, I had two more nosebleeds. We did a CAT scan of my nasopharynx on 6/5/20, then biopsy on Thursday 7/9/20, then on Sunday 7/12/20, at 1:41pm I looked at my phone and saw the call coming in was from my ENT, and I knew it was not good. He gave me the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx. My ENT referred me to a local oncologist in our town, and after further testing I received a diagnosis of Stage 4a, T2, N3, MO, squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx (behind my nose), metastasized to several areas down both sides of my neck. I had my treatment at the University of Chicago Medical Center. They gave me a 50/50 chance of surviving.
“Stages” of cancer:
- Stage 0: There is no cancer, only abnormal cells with the potential to become cancer. Also called “carcinoma in situ.”
- Stage I: The cancer is localized to a small area and hasn’t spread to lymph nodes or other tissues.
- Stage II: The cancer has grown larger, but it hasn’t spread.
- Stage III: The cancer has grown larger and has possibly spread to lymph nodes or other tissues.
- Stage IV (=4): The cancer has spread to other organs or areas of your body.
My treatment consisted of 9 weeks of immunotherapy plus chemotherapy, with infusions every Friday. Then treatment continued with 6 ½ weeks of daily radiation (33 sessions), plus strong chemotherapy. I did not have surgery, as my cancer was behind my nose in a difficult place to do surgery. I am now 3 years cancer-free.
