How effective is radiation or chemoradiation in curing larynx cancer?  The statistics from groups like the American Cancer Society give figures in the 90 percent rage for lower stage cancers, and in the 50-70 percent range for more advanced cancers.  And we are told that the use and effectiveness of non-surgical approaches to treating larynx cancer are continuing to improve. 
    
     But ask a group of laryngectomees how effective radiation or chemoradiation is in curing larynx cancer and you are likely to hear a very different story, since, for those who had it in hopes of avoiding the laryngectomy, it failed.  We have been told that those whose cancers are cured just return to their lives and generally do not join larynx cancer support groups, so we are just not likely to hear from them.  But just who are these individuals whose larynx cancers were cured with radiation? 

     One is them is Robert Skimin.

Dodging the Bullet

     He was told in 1991 that the tickle in his throat was probably the result of GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease).  So he raised the elevation of the head of his bed, ate earlier in the evening, and took medications for his acid stomach.  But the tickle continued, and one day he noticed a tiny lump on his neck.  A biopsy confirmed that he had larynx cancer, and his physician told him that removing his larynx was the only realistic chance to save his life.  At the time, he was on the road promoting his latest book, Renegade Lightning.

     Robert Skimin had retired from the U.S. Army and had become a well known historical novelist.  One of his books, Apache Autumn, had been nominated for the highest honor, the Pulitzer Prize.  A major part of the job of most authors is traveling and talking about their books via the "promotional tour."  He had also conducted seminars and given lectures on writing and publishing.  The diagnosis and potential loss of his voice rocked his world.  "I was one of those people who feels indestructible," he said.  "I was facing my own mortality.  I was devastated."  A physician friend suggested getting a second opinion from the top ranked U.S. cancer hospital, the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.  He learned of a radiation treatment regime being used there and was told it might give him a 75% chance of recovery, and with his larynx intact. 

     "The moment I heard that, my spirits just shot through the roof.  'You take care of the 75% and I'll take care of the other 25%,'" he told his doctors.  He continued to write as his treatments stretched over two months.  "Writing occupied my time and my mind.  There was no way I would be a moping patient.  This was something I had to go through to get on with my life," he recalled.  He listened to motivational tapes and read books which offered hope.  "When you're in that unknown, it is absolutely vital to find peace of mind.  Confidence does it for me.  I had no doubt that this was going to work."

Battles and Writing

     Robert Skimin was a talented artist, but he left his hometown in Ohio to enlist in the Army.  He was just 18.  He became a paratrooper, artillery officer and pilot of light aircraft and helicopters.  Decorated several times, he became a Green Beret and one of the Army's youngest officers.  But another battle for Robert was with the bottle.  And in 1976 he wrote a book about alcoholism, The Booze Game.  His own battle with alcohol gave him an additional perspective on General U.S. Grant when he wrote Ulysses.  Ironically, former President Grant died of mouth and throat cancer.

Custer's Luck