Herman Carl
Cancer Survivor
Ebensburg, PA
Biography
Herman Carl is an oral cancer survivor from Ebensburg, PA. A former high school science teacher, Herman was passionate about his work, often using creative methods to make learning engaging for his students. After discovering a lesion in his mouth, Herman visited a string of medical professionals before receiving his diagnosis and treatment. Herman took his diagnosis as an opportunity to live life to the fullest, choosing to travel with his children and refusing to hold back with his ambitions. He currently does photography, frequently sees his kids, and plays in a community band.
Initial symptoms and frustrations
I've had problems with my legs, but the last time I broke my leg, there was something, a lesion found on the side of my mouth. I felt it, and I let it go for a while. I had a friend that I graduated college with who was an oral surgeon, and I went to see him. He took a couple samples of it, sent it to the lab, it came back. They didn't think it was cancer or anything, they just said, “it's an interesting case. I haven't seen anything like this before.”
He goes, “I'm going to refer you to someone. I don't do that type of surgery to take it out.” I said, “Okay, go ahead.” He didn’t want to touch me either, because I have to be put into a hospital, because of other complications I've had with a broken leg, blood clots and things, it's safer for me to be in the hospital overnight after surgery. My friend sends me up to another doctor up here in Ebensburg, and this doctor took a look at me. He says, “it might be deep. I don’t want to touch you,” after he heard my history. He says, “I'm going to send you to the specialist in Johnstown.”
You get frustrated. Since 2011, I've been practically five or six times with different physicians — not for the cancer, but for different things. Everything else like that, you just go, “not another one.” But you go. This is after I broke my leg, and I basically did not want to have surgery because of the complications I had. He sent me to another EMT doctor in Johnstown. I'd been there before, and I've seen him before. He read the biopsy, says, “I don’t know about this. I'm not going to touch you at all.” He goes, “I'm going to send you to Pittsburgh.” He said, this person, this doctor is supposed to be one of the top ear, nose, and throat specialists in the nation. He basically set up an appointment for me, the doctor took me in. This was in 2016. He took a biopsy — nothing. But he said, “I'd like to keep an eye on it, come see me about every six months.” Now, you gotta remember, from here to Pittsburgh is three hours. We went down there, we went through that. And everything was, he said, very, very stable. “I don't think it's cancer, but I still want to keep an eye on it.” So about every six months I was making that three hour trip down to Pittsburgh.
“You grow with it, you grow. You don’t let it hold you back. If it holds you back, you’re lost. You really are. ”
Diagnosis
Around 2021, I started not enjoying food so hot. I used to like nice, medium hot sauce, jalapenos and things like that. They just weren't really setting it off. I finally said, “can we do something about this? Can we take it out?” He said, “it's not cancer, but I will take it out for you.” He didn't expect me to lose any teeth at that point. However, he said, “you are going to see a skin doctor.” So I get there, in the operation, you lay in there, get ready. They ask you questions. So I come up, wake up, I get out of the hospital.
I never chewed or smoked. I mean, I’d smoke a cigar every once in a while, but I never chewed or anything else like that. So I had a hard time figuring it might have been oral cancer. And at that time, I had a friend who was going through the oral cancer thing. They do a biopsy on the stuff that they removed. They removed it. I didn’t hear from them. I looked at my charts, I didn't see anything. Something’s up. Then I saw the surgeon that had put the skin and graft on my mouth, and he said it was cancer. The doctor, he called me in. He goes, “yeah, it's an indolent form of cancer.” I taught chemistry and physics, I don't know the first thing about biology. So I get online, and it was a slow moving cancer. It's very slow.
Recovery and reflection
The fact that you get hit with this cancer changes things. You know, you start thinking. I called up my son and my daughter. I said, right now, if I want to go somewhere, I'm going. And that was the end of that. You know, I generally do end up going where I want to. But then again, you always have your doubts. I mean, every appointment after that, there's anxiety that sits in for me.
Everything's going great. I felt the same type of lesion in my mouth last year. And I went to see him — the doctor pulled me right in. He said, “it’s not cancer,” but he took samples anyway. He said, “I think it's just between your skin graft and the thing. It's just finally coming up”. I said, “Okay.” So that's basically where I'm at. I’m in my fifth year, I started on the three months plan, that means traveling Pittsburgh every three months. Right now I'm on the six month plan, as I call it, and he might take me off. But I don't think he will because of this new growth. I mumble. I find that right now, my mouth is getting tired. A whole area’s number right now, he hit a nerve.But that's not his fault, you know. I'm recovering. I think about it, don't get me wrong, it's in the your back of your head. But I’ve got a very supportive family, and that's all that I need. That's it.
Advice, family, and community
Sometimes you sit down and you say, “why me, God?” And I got an answer back: “Why not?” You deal with things, you deal with teaching, you deal with cancer, it's part of your life. You grow with it. You grow. You don't let it hold you back. If it holds you back, you're lost. You really are.
What’s the best thing I’ve allowed myself to do? Not hold back. I'll go back and see my kids whenever I can. I went to the Grand Canyon. We just came back from Alaska. My kids said, “you want to go to Alaska with us?” I said, “Sure, why not?” And we got a nice little ship. We went as a family. Of course, I didn't bother them and they didn't bother me, because they need room to grow.
I've been in a community band for years with my wife. It's been enjoyable. That's one thing I try to tell kids, all my friends did sports. I did the band. They were done their senior year in high school. I'm still playing in the band. There's the difference. At 71, I’m still playing. My band director’s in the band, he's 80-something. We had a guy in the band that played up to 90. He wished he could come back, but he had arthritis in his hands. Those two are my models in playing.
I’ve got so much to do. I enjoy my photography. I go see the kids. I go on trips. One of our goals before COVID was to try to visit every minor league team that plays against the Altoona Curve in their own ballpark. So we're going to New Jersey to see them play at the end of the month. Don't let it hold you back. Sit back and enjoy. I'd love to bring my dog here. She'd go crazy, but she's very gentle. I don't know what she would do around 20 kids, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I guess that's what you can say about cancer. Be safe, not sorry.
“You’ve got to look for things that make your life enjoyable.”
A video of Herman’s Q&A with the team can be found on YouTube here.