Restaurateur shares a bump in the road

Taking a deep breath late on a Friday night, I felt a small popping sensation on the left side of my neck. Reaching up, I felt a bump that had appeared out of nowhere on my neck.

“What the hell is this?” I thought. With years of sports and work injuries, I assumed I had another pulled muscle or whatever. I took two aspirin and went to bed.

I worked out Saturday and Sunday and during a visit to my friend and chiropractor Guy Maratta, I pointed the lump out to him. His reaction was to get to a doctor ASAP to have it looked at.

I did and my internist was also puzzled as to what it could be. He suggested we watch it for a couple of days but advised me to make an appointment with Dr. Eric Winarsky at the Central Jersey Otolaryngology group for the following Monday morning.

Over the next two days, the lump became inflamed to the point that I looked almost like I had two heads. I gave in and went to Riverview Medical Center, had a CAT scan and was advised to see Dr. Winarsky’s group as soon as possible.

The next day Dr. Vin Probhat advised me that I had a branchial cleft cyst in my neck and it should be removed as soon as possible. After a week of antibiotic treatment, I had the surgery the following Monday and went home on Tuesday. I returned to his office on Thursday expecting to be told when I could go back to working out and resume my work schedule.

The news was not what I expected. As he started to talk, the words cystic metastatic squamous cell carcinoma jumped out at me.

The bottom line was that the cyst was cancerous. My heart started to race and a touch of anxiety and fear filled my mind and heart.

“I have cancer” was racing through my mind as he explained what we would be doing next.

The report indicated that the cyst was not the site of the cancer and I would need a test to find out where the cancer cells had traveled from. The next day I had a PET scan and waited for the results the following Tuesday. It was a long couple of days.

I talked to my family and staff and it was at this point that I decided to write about this new journey.

We all know someone, either family or friend, that has had cancer. Outside of the medical books and holistic manuals, I have never heard what the person went through medically, emotionally and physically.

If this accounting pushes one person to have examined a lump or pain that should not be in their body, then I will have been able to give someone a great gift like the one that has been given to me.

To be continued …

Daniel Murphy Jr., a resident of Red Bank, is the proprietor of Danny’s Steakhouse.

Daniel Murphy Jr .

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