Jim & Carol McNaughton

Hi, my name is Amy and I am fundraising for Jim & Carol. Please join us in loving-on and supporting our amazing friend, couple and family!

This was Jim's first CaringBridge post said:

As some of you know, Jim has been fighting tongue cancer for a few years now. There was some pre-cancer areas found and removed, in clinic, starting in 2016.

So, this happened 3 different times until 10/18/19 when the pathology report showed it to be squamous cell carcinoma. That is where this journey began to take a nasty turn. He had his first full-fledged surgery on November 6, 2019. The doctor removed the part of his tongue that was affected and told us since it was a muscle, it would grow back... and it did!

Then on February 2, 2021 he found 2 small white dots in that area again. The doctor was watching them closely, and they weren't changing, nor were they going away. On May 3, 2021 he took a biopsy and the pathology report showed only PRE cancer. Still needed to be removed. On May 19, 2021 he had another surgery to remove all the pre cancer.

Then on April 7, 2023 he had another biopsy. Once again the pathology report showed there was cancer. This time it was were the tongue meets the floor of the mouth, which was different from 2019. The surgery took place on May 2, 2023 and they removed a larger section of his tongue along with part of the floor of his mouth. The final pathology report showed clear edges, which is good, but it also stated that the piece from the floor of the mouth was 4.6mm deep, and they get concerned at 2.5mm. That meant that the doctor wanted to remove lymph nodes on the left side of his neck as a precaution. So, June 2, he had that surgery. Up until now, they were all same day surgeries. This one however required him to stay overnight for a night for observation. He was released the next day and was doing pretty good until early August.

In early August he started having a lot of pain in his mouth and his tongue was swelling. He saw his doctor and he saw nothing concerning and told Jim that it was part of the healing process.

Early September brought even more swelling and then it busted open. Called the doctor again, and got an appointment for September 12 for a biopsy. Between the time we made the appointment and actually were seen, it had more then doubled in size! Got those results on September 14, and indeed the cancer was back!

We got in for CT & PET Scans on September 18 and saw the tongue reconstruction surgeon on Sept. 19. He told us that the entire tongue all has to go this time as well as the lymph nodes on the right side of his neck. Our hearts dropped! The thought of Jim never being able to talk again, and me never hearing his voice again was so overwhelming for us both!

His surgery was scheduled for this Thursday, September 28 at 7:45am at Abbott Northwestern. It’s going to be a LONG, HARD road for him. He will be in ICU for a couple of days and then in a regular room for another 5 days or so. Then he’ll come home to recuperate for 5 weeks before starting radiation. He’ll have radiation Monday - Friday for the next 6 weeks. PLEASE keep Jim and his surgeons in your prayers for the BEST possible outcome!

Jim's surgery went well. The doctors felt it was necessary to do three rounds of chemo along with 30 radiation treatments due to the size of the tumor and how quickly it grew.

He IS able to talk and is currently undergoing radiation and chemo. He had a feeding tube put in, we have to get “food” delivered monthly for him. He needs other monthly supplies for the feeding tube as well. We don’t know at this point if he will ever get rid of the tube. He’ll need to follow-up with the doctors at the cancer center as well as the reconstructive surgeon on a regular basis.

Jim has received 2 of 3 cycles of chemo and his radiation treatments will be completed on Dec 27th.

Please join us in supporting this amazing family, who has always been available to help others in their time of need! Now it's time for us help them with medical bills, living expenses and supplement Jim's lessened disability salary!