February Closes Out

Well, things just continue plodding along. Nothing spectacular but I'm continuing to make progress in most areas. Dry mouth is the only thing that's going the wrong direction but it's gone pretty far south and is a pretty good inconvenience.

I had a few appointments this week. First was the Nurse Practitioner at the Oncologist's office. She said I'm progressing as expected. She gave me a prescription for some pills that I take 3-times per day that are supposed to help with the dry mouth. I haven't been able to remember to take them 3-times in any one day yet so I can't exactly say if they're going to be a help or not. We scheduled my next round of scans which will included a CT Scan and a PET Scan for April 1st. No snickers from the wise acres out there about scheduling this on April Fools' Day. I then have an appointment with Dr. Tsue (ENT) on April 2nd, with the Radiation Oncologist on April 3rd and, again with the Oncologist in mid-April.

Eating continues to move along. Still problems with spicy food, my tastes are still screwed up and I still struggle a bit with swallowing some things and get choked some, but all are progressing some I think. I've managed to gain 4 lbs in the last month so she was ready to schedule a date to have my PEG Tube removed. Then we talked and decided it would be prudent to wait until AFTER the PET & CT Scan . . . just in case. Not that I'm not carrying around a positive attitude but we also have to be practical. But, if I get a clean set of scans April 1st then I'll be getting my PEG tube removed sometime in late April I expect. Looking forward to that.

On Wednesday I had a check-up with my regular dentist. He's a family friend and knew the whole history here. So he gave me a thorough once over. Dental problems are common after Radiation treatment to the face/neck area because of all the problems the treatment causes to the bone structure, the saliva glands, etc. I've been using my flouride trays for 30-minutes a day most days, brushing immediately after everything I eat -- often 4-5 times a day -- and flossing pretty religiously, all of which I'm supposed to do the rest of my life. He gave me a general clean bill of health but I do have a sore low down on the inner gum next to my furthest back lower tooth. I assumed it was the flouride tray rubbing and causing irritation. Scott said it COULD be that be he suspects there's an infection in the tooth that's making it's way out through the gum there and causing the sore. My tooth and jaw are sore in the same area. So I have some extra mouth-rinse stuff to use a couple of times a day then go back in to see him late next week to see how it's doing. Hopefully that will get it fixed up, though I've seen no progress in these first few days.

And finally, Thursday was my follow-up appointment with my Orthopedic Surgeon for my shoulder. I got glowing reports there. Making light-years progress since my appointment a month ago. Still a lot of strengthening that needs to be done -- I couldn't lift a can of coke above my head right now -- but my range of motion has improved dramatically and is near normal. That was the concern. Strength will come when it comes, range of motion CAN be lost forever but, apparently, not for me this time. So, I continue with my physical therapy for four more weeks then go back to see him again.

Monday I go in to see my Speech/Swallow Pathologist and to have a Swallow Study to see how I'm progressing on that front. I feel like I'm doing much better. Again, I still choke some and have some problems, but I can swallow pills now and I'm not really shying away from anything from a swallowing stand point, I just have to be careful. We'll see how that goes.

Then, Tuesday and Wednesday I'm off to Salt Lake City for a business trip. I'm a little concerned about that for fatigue. Tuesday, in particular, will be interesting with an early morning flight then an afternoon spent going around to look at job sites and back to the office for some meetings. Hopefully I won't fall asleep mid-meeting.

So March will be a couple of Physical Therapy sessions a week plus one Doctor Appt with my Orthopedic Surgeon. April will have a flurry of appointments the first few days then a couple more spread out in the month. And if all goes well, Doctor appointments will start being few and far between after that. I'm sure my boss is looking forward to that.

My buddy and fellow patient Jeff had his lung biopsy Wednesday. Of course, since everything's so non-stressful for him right now, he had a bit of a complication with the procedure itself. His lung didn't reinflate properly and he had to spend the night Wednesday night. He came home Thursday afternoon and now has a stressful several days waiting until late next week for the results. Keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers if you would.