Hi;
My name is Ron Sparks and I have cancer.
Sounds like a 12-step program, huh? Being diagnosed with cancer has changed my life. It’s been an incredible journey and it’s not nearly over yet. Not even close. As a writer, I have a cathartic need to express myself when I am in trouble – so it’s no surprise that I blog profusely about my cancer and my recovery. Here is a date-indexed list of my cancer and recovery blogs.
I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in August 2008. I had radical neck dissection surgery in September 2008 to remove the cancer from my lymph nodes and from my tonsils. Six weeks after surgery, in November 2008, I started chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Chemo and radiation ended in January 2009 and I have been in recovery ever since.
If you are a cancer patient and have found this page; take heart. You are not alone. We, all of us, need to stand together in the face of this disease.
INDEX
08/27/08 The Scariest Words
09/15/08 John Stamos Cell Carcinoma
09/22/08 Cancer Surgery Date and Details
10/03/08 Post Operation Details
10/07/08 Surgery Post-Op Results
10/07/08 Poetry Contest Winner
10/13/08 The Cancer Reailty Check
10/14/08 Living With Cancer – Understanding Sycophants
10/14/08 First Post-Survery Workout
10/16/08 Meeting with my Radiation Oncologist
10/17/08 Update on Radiation Oncologist
10/20/08 Ear Mania
10/24/08 Body Image Post Cancer Surgery
10/31/08 My Chemo and Radiation Treatment Plan
11/10/08 Radiation Day 1: Chemo Day 1
11/17/08 The Toughest Battle Of My Life
11/26/08 Tasteless
12/03/08 Ceiling cat Is Watching Me Get Radiation
12/09/08 Not By The Hair of my CHinny-Cin-Chin!
12/15/08 Feeding Tube Madness
12/22/08 Hell of a Week
01/07/09 My Shrinking Belly
01/07/09 Foods I Crave
01/10/09 I Emerge From Round 1 Victorious!
01/22/09 Recovery Status
01/30/09 There’s a Fungus Among Us!
02/04/09 Recovery Update
02/15/09 Cancer Memories
02/16/09 Loving Couples Share Everything
02/20/09 Pickle Surprise!
03/02/09 First Day Back to Work!
03/11/09 I’m Not A Cyborg Anymore!
03/13/09 Binary’s Kids
03/17/09 Emerging From The Ashes Reborn
03/24/09 First Workout Post Cancer Treatment
03/26/09 Another Clean Bill of Health
03/31/09 Bald Binary Biker!
04/04/09 Surfing Again
04/13/09 Easter Weekend Surfing
04/17/09 The IOA 5K Race
04/21/09 I Have an Itch . . .
05/04/09 Recovery Status
05/15/09 Orlando Relay for Life
05/19/09 Cancer and Social Networking
05/22/09 Always Get A Second Opinion!
06/16/09 Stupid Cancer
06/29/09 Chewing Gum and Cancer
07/30/09 Did Chemo Brain Influence My Decision?
08/24/09 What do Fish and Cancer Have in Common?
08/29/09 Cancer and Bench Pressing
09/12/09 Telling Cancer Supporters What You Need
11/14/09 Dealing with Cancer Anxiety
12/30/09 Chemo Brain Attack
01/04/10 Cancer Anxiety Blues
02/06/10 Fat Lips and Cancer
02/22/10 Why is Astrology more Popular than Cancer?
02/28/10 Voices of Survivors at Drunken Monkey Coffee Bar
02/28/10 The Binary Biker is Back!
03/15/10 The Cancer Survivor CT/PET Scan Routine
03/16/10 The Binary Biker is Still Cancer Free
04/01/10 Head and Neck Cancer Radiation Treatments Can Cause Hypothyroidism
06/21/10 Cancer, Scars, and Airport Shuttles
06/25/10 It Galls Me To Tell You This
09/10/10 The Illusion of Control
09/16/10 United HealthCare & Florida Hospital Dispute Almost Cancels My PET Scan
02/24/11 Cancer is a Terrorist
05/30/11 My Most Popular Search Term: “Lip Cancer”
07/30/11 The Scariest Words Revisited
07/30/11 Binary’s New Tattoo
08/06/11 How Wii’s Animal Crossing Helped me Cope with Cancer
05/25/12 You’re Lucky To Be Alive
03/26/13 Walk a Mile In My Shoes
08/24/13 Unbowed, Unbeaten, and Alive
03/31/15 The Binary Biker is a Candy Striper
09/15/15 Cancer Scams and Frankenstein
09/30/15 Cancer and Google’s Science of Happiness
The Binary Biker 
Hi Ron,
Congratulations on your blog.
The more cancer sufferers share their stories the more information is”out there”and we can all learn from each others experiences
I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2004 and went through the cycle of surgery, radiotherapy, chemo and complementary medicine.
I had very slow and painful recovery but always believed I would beat it. During my recovery I produced a DVD to help people in Australia deal with cancer. I too started a blog talking about my life in the media and the cancer.
I will follow your journey to recovery with great interest.
Graeme Goodings The Good Innings http://goodinnings.wordpress.com/
I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content in your case? I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating on a number of the subjects you write with regards to here. Again, awesome website!
hello ron, i truly feel your pain as i am fighting oral cancer right now myself….i too have never smoked or drank or chewed…my cancer started in my righ tonsil….all of my doctors are positive that mine is from HPV….could it be that your was also? the good thing (if there is such a thing) is that hpv related cancer responds MUCH better to chemo and radiation than smoke or drink related cancer….i am 6 weeks out of radiation and still cannot eat or drink a thing,,,i went from 285lbs to 178 as of yesterdays weigh in…the peg tube is a life saver but i sure would love to have a big juicy burger soon….
Hey Danny; yeah, mine is probably HPV-related as well. I am now at 3 years since diagnoses, and am doing GREAT. You’re going to do great also. I am so happy you found my blog and that you are on the other side of treatments my friend. You’re definitely not alone and I can tell you, it DOES get better. My mucus started clearing up about 5-7 weeks out of radiation, but it took quite a while for me to have any real taste back. For me, the date I bit into a pickle and tasted it was HEAVEN. 🙂
Stay strong bro – and if you need anything, even just a chat from a fellow head and neck survivor, reach out and ping me.
Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope your recovery is progressing well. Sometimes the scars are emotional as well as physical, so I hope this blog has helped you to express some of your issues.