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#137893 08-09-2011 07:02 AM
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Saw this back in November 2010, then again today. double checked the OCF news archives and didn't see it so here is an inspiration note about a woman losing her tongue and job to cancer but becoming a cookie baker. But with Borders closing, she would have lost her job anyway. Not quite the Chicago celebrity chef Grant Achez but still good to read about people coping successfully.

[quote]After recovering from stage IV tongue cancer, Chesaning native Tami Johnson turned her hobby of baking as a way of helping her recovery and providing a new business opportunity.

�(Baking) gave me something to do,� Johnson said of her business, Tami�s Sweet Treats.

Johnson was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in June 2009. As a result, she had most of her tongue and 120 lymph nodes removed. Because of the surgery, recovery, chemotherapy and radiation, she couldn�t continue working as a manager at Borders.

Johnson had to leave her job at the bookstore that she loved, and her son, who was 2 years old at the time her tongue was removed, had to stay with family for two months during Johnson�s recovery.

�I think I wanted to recover faster so he could come home sooner,� Johnson said. �I don�t have any bad feelings about losing my job. It was a job, but I enjoyed it� (The cancer) has given me time to do (baking).�

�Yes, (the cancer) changed my life, but it gave me something I want to do,� Johnson said. �(Baking is) something I love to do,� she said.

Johnson started baking in the spring of 2010, and began selling her products as Tami�s Sweet Treats at the farmers market in Hartland, and then at the farmers market in Fenton. She now sells at both farmers markets as well as bake sales around the Linden area, and is planning to start selling her products around the Owosso-area farmers markets.

The business is small right now, but she enjoys it because she can still bake from home in her own kitchen, Johnson said.

�It�s a whole different life,� Johnson said. �It was my determination to get back to the life I had. (The cancer) is not going to stop me.�

�I think it�s going to keep growing,� Johnson said about her business. She said more orders continue to come in every day.

�I was lucky,� Johnson said, noting the cancer did not spread to the back of her tongue, which would have left her without speech completely, nor did the cancer spread to her bones.

When she was able to speak again, Johnson said, �That was a big day.�

Johnson said she completely surprised her mother when she said, �Hi mom.�

Stunning diagnosis

Johnson�s journey from cancer patient to entrepreneur wasn�t an easy one.

Johnson said the cancer started as just a small pimple on her tongue, and an earache that would not go away.

When the pimple on her tongue grew to be the size of two thumbnails within two weeks, Johnson and her family were surprised to find out it was cancer because she had no history of tobacco use or drinking.

�It was so far out of left field,� her husband Dave Johnson said.

Dave Johnson was worried and said the biggest struggle was not knowing the future.

�You don�t know what the future holds,� he said. �It changes your life.�

The development of cancer is described by stages. Stage IV means cancer has spread from the initial site to other locations within the body.

Johnson�s mother JoAnn Ostipow said the biggest struggles for her were questioning why it was happening to her daughter and the uncertainty of the future for her daughter.

�I coped with it because I had to,� Ostipow said.

The worst part, Tami Johnson said, was not the physical issues: �Emotionally, it was a lot harder. It was tough, but I had a lot of support.�

Recovering

After removing Johnson�s tongue, doctor took skin and blood vessels from Johnson�s forearm and fashioned a replacement tongue for her. Taking the tissue from her arm required using skin from her thigh to then help repair her arm.

Thanks to the new tongue, she can now speak, but Tami Johnson was completely non-verbal for two months after her surgery and her tongue movements and her speech are not the same as before she had cancer.

�I was her mouthpiece for two months,� Dave Johnson said. In addition to her husband�s aid, Tami Johnson used a dry-erase board to communicate with others around her.

�It was hard because I didn�t know what she was feeling,� Dave Johnson said.

Tami Johnson agreed, �You can�t write what you�re feeling.�

�I didn�t understand, and won�t ever understand what she is going through,� Dave Johnson said.

Changed person

Ostipow said when Tami Johnson was in the hospital, a nurse said a year from then her daughter would be a different person, which she called �the new Tami.�

�It�s been a year, but things are still healing,� Ostipow said. �I�m encouraged she�s beginning her own little business.�

�I think it was more of a learning thing too�Learning how to swallow again� and how to talk again was tough, Tami Johnson said. �You have no idea how important your tongue is.

�My tongue doesn�t have the same type of movement as everyone else�s,� Johnson said of her new tongue. Although she can taste foods, she said her taste is now �distorted� and not the same as she remembers.

While baking her cookies and cupcakes or eating, Johnson relies on her sense of smell to know what flavors to expect, but does not trust her sense of taste anymore.

�Dave has to taste (the cookies and cupcakes)� to make sure they taste good, Johnson said.

�Which is hurting my waist line,� Dave Johnson joked.[/quote]

Here's a link to today's article with picture
Cancer and cookies part 2
here's a link to the fully quoted excerpt
cancer and cookies part 1
Keep the Faith
charm


65 yr Old Frack
Stage IV BOT T3N2M0 HPV 16+
2007:72GY IMRT(40) 8 ERBITUX No PEG
2008:CANCER BACK Salvage Surgery
25GY-CyberKnife(5) 3 Carboplatin
Apaghia /G button
2012: CANCER BACK -left tonsilar fossa
40GY-CyberKnife(5) 3 Carboplatin

Passed away 4-29-13
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That is so awesome!


Cheryl : Irritation - 2004 BX: 6/2008 : Inflam. BX: 12/10, DX: 12/10 : SCC - LS tongue well dif. T2N1M0. 2/11 hemigloss + recon. : PND - 40 nodes - 39 clear. 3/11 - 5/11 IMRT 33 + cis x2, PEG 3/28/11 - 5/19/11 3 head, 2 chest scans - clear(fingers crossed) HPV-, No smoke, drink, or drugs, Vegan
Cheryld #138353 08-18-2011 05:41 PM
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Wonderful story, Charm! Thank you for sharing!!

Cathi


57 when diagnosed. Heavy smoker. Social drinker. Diagnosed 7/9/09 with tonsil, tongue & neck cancer. Chemo induction (Cisplatin, 5FU & Taxotere) & 35 radiation tx + 7 Carboplatin.
Head and neck CAT scan on 1/15/10 shows no cancer.
1/27/12 First PET/CAT scans in 2 years - All clear!!
recurrence mid-2015
OCF supporter and avid OCF CO and NJ walk attendee with worldwide friends

*** 1-7-16 passed away unexpectedly ***
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Amazing inspiring article. Go Tami's Treats smile


Tongue Cancer T2 N0 M0 /
Total Glossectomy Due to Location of Tumor

Finished all treatments May 25 2007
Surviving!!!
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Its a week for great articles...another for the file.
Thanks for posting Charm.
Gabriele


History Leukoplakia bx 8/2006 SCC floor mouth T3N0M0- Verrucous Carcinoma.
14 hour 0p SCC-Right ND/excision/marginal mandibulectomy 9/2006, 4 teeth removed, flap from wrist, trach-ng 6 days- no chemo/rad.
6 ops and debulking (flap/tongue join) + bx's 2006-2012.
bx Jan 2012 Hyperkeratosis-Epithelial Dysplasia
24cm GIST tumour removed 8/2013. Indefinite Oral Chemo.

1/31/16 passed away peacefully surrounded by family

Gabe #148007 04-09-2012 04:07 AM
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Hello Charms Thanks for sharing this wonderful story.

Last edited by Nawkaw; 04-09-2012 04:08 AM.
Nawkaw #148008 04-09-2012 04:20 AM
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I remember this beautiful story and s0 worthy of re-reading! Thanks Charm, for bringing it back. Cookies always remind me of the wonderful little Cookie Lady who came to our Rad Room where my son would go for his treatments. She always came and talked to everyone there and offered them cookies. Those going through Rad had their own swallowing and painful issues and couldn't eat cookies but it was a wonderful gesture all the same and so appreciated by those that could appreciate the cookies and the compassion and understand she served along with the cookies. Yay! for cookies!


Anne-Marie
CG to son, Paul (age 33, non-smoker) SCC Stage 2, Surgery 9/21/06, 1/6 tongue Rt.side removed, +48 lymph nodes neck. IMRTx28 completed 12/19/06. CT scan 7/8/10 Cancer-free! ("spot" on lung from scar tissue related to Pneumonia.)



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Love...thanks for sharing!!


Kathy wife/caregiver to:
Kevin age:53
Dx 7/15/11
HPV16+ SCC Stage IV BOT/R
Non smoker, casual drinker
7/27/11 Cistplatin, taxotere,5FU 2/3week sessions, followed by IMRT 125cgy x 60 (2x daily) w/Erbitux weekly. Last rad 10/26/11. Last Erbitux 10/27/11
PEG placed 9/1/11 Removed 11/8/11
Clear PET 10/12 and 10/13 and ct in 6/14
KP5 #148672 04-23-2012 12:29 AM
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Hee hee.....Rod is addicted to shortbreads dunked un his tea, he never ate cookies before this year!!


Jeanna
Wife/Carer of Rod, 56, Dx 5/3/09, SCC Oropharnyx T4 N2, End Tx 28th 07/09, 7wks Rad, 3 Cisplatin, primary tonsil, 4cm Lymph right of neck, 1cm left, in jaw & soft palate & base of tongue. Peg 06/09. CT & PET scans 02/11 - NED. Dentures 20/09/11, PEG out 28/10/11.

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