David Bryan David V Bryan

On September 12, 2018, our lives turned upside down when we were told David had cancer following a surgery to remove an inflamed gland. The tissue under the gland was diagnosed as an adenocarcinoma. Additional testing revealed metastatic cancer in multiple bones throughout his body, specifically right scapula, left third rib, sternum, L3 vertebra, sacrum and right pelvis. Pathology results from an biopsy confirmed primary source of cancer as Esophageal cancer Stage IV metasized to bones. This has been devastating news and very unexpected.


David hasn't been feeling well for several months now. He has been very fatigued and has had several things happen at once including a bump under his tongue, an injury to leg and more recent persistent headaches. The most concerning was a bump he found under his tongue. He first sought out a dentist who pulled a tooth that was too far gone to save. He asked about the bump and dentist suggested he see primary care or oral surgery. He established himself with the family primary doctor (we all know nurses are the worst patients and never see doctors so he hadn't been in years). Primary sent him to ENT thinking he had a stone in his salivary gland. ENT ordered CT scan and we were told it was negative meaning it's not a stone.  He still didn't know what it was so they sent him for a needle biopsy and ultrasound. They found nothing on the ultrasound and decided a needle biopsy wasn't necessary as they were so sure there was nothing unusual showing up. Pathologist who reviewed ultrasound suggested he go to oral surgeon.  Next stop to oral surgeon reviewed CT scan and definitely saw something there (we figure this was missed the first time) and referred him to a different ENT that he knew and trusted.  This ENT had reviewed CT prior to David visit and decided whatever it was needed to be biopsied and removed. He did a needle biopsy of the gland and it was negative. What a relief?! By now weve been told several times this was not cancer. The bump was bothersome so doctor wanted to remove it anyway. The day of the surgery was very long and totalled six hours from start to finish. We were told this would be thirty minute procedure to an hour and it turned into two hours. I was starting to worry and wonder what was happening when I was finally called in to talk to Dr. Moore. This man changed everything for us. He was the first to decide to be more aggressive and remove whatever this was and we are so thankful for him. He explained to me that there was a lot of tissue under the gland and it was very hard to remove because it was on the jaw bone. He sent it to pathology to see what is was. I told David the watered down version of his surgery so he could spend the next few days recovering and not focus on what might be. Five days later we received the confirmed diagnosis of cancer and it's been a whirlwind since of multiple doctors and more tests...