Nick's Story: Years Of Experience Are The Right Prescription
Nick Malott first noticed the changes on his neck near the end of 2017. He was not in any pain, but there was a small lump on his throat.
“It was small at Christmas,” Nick says, “but it grew.”
After an initial diagnosis, Nick went looking a second opinion. About that time, something interesting turned up in his mailbox.
“I got a notice in the mail,” Nick says. “It was about Dr. Adam (Jeffrey S. Adam, MD). “He had a practice in Troy, and now he was opening up a new office in Middletown.”
The new office of Premier ENT Associates was convenient for Nick, so he made an appointment to talk with Dr. Adam. The two met in January 2018, and they had a good connection from the start. “He’s a great, down-to-earth guy,” Nick says. He particularly appreciated Dr. Adam’s long experience in otolaryngology. “He was a seasoned veteran, and I trusted him.”
Dr. Adam told Nick he wanted to run some tests to be sure, but he believed the lump in Nick’s neck was a metastatic lymph node from a squamous cell carcinoma of his epiglottis. “He said he’d been doing this for 35 years,” Nick says, “and he had seen it before.”
When the tests confirmed the diagnosis, they discussed the results and plan of attack. “Dr. Adam explained everything to me in layman’s terms,” Nick says. “He made sure I understood it very well.”
The treatment program recommended by Dr. Adam, in consultation with an oncologist and a radiologist, included several weeks of chemotherapy followed by several more weeks of radiation. Nick is a busy owner-operator running an independent trucking business, and the daily trips to Middletown for his treatments, along with dealing with treatment side effects, meant that he would have to stop working for a little more than six months. Nick says stepping away from his business for that long was a particularly challenging part of his cancer, but it was key to his recovery.
“Dr. Adam told me, more or less, to set everything else aside for the time being,” says Nick. “He said I needed to concentrate on my treatment and recovery. He was confident that he could treat and cure the cancer, but I had to devote my whole effort to it. I couldn’t go for a couple of treatments and then miss a couple; I had to be there every day. So I tried to do everything he said. I listened to him, I quit working and I did all my treatments and everything.”
Nick says the side effects of the treatment were sometimes challenging, but it was well worth the struggle. “It had its rough spots, but I got through it. And it worked out fine. I’m back on my feet, and I’m back to working a full schedule.”
Preliminary tests show that the treatment has been successful. Nick is very thankful. “I’m still alive, and I feel good,” he says. “I feel blessed.” He is appreciative of everyone involved in his care. “Everybody I worked with was great, especially Dr. Adam and his staff. I would recommend them to anyone who has a problem like I had. They saved my life.”
