Fix-A-Jaw

Went to the Dentist a couple of weeks ago for my first post-treatment cleaning and check-up. Coincidentally I had started having some gum and tooth pain in and around the furthest back tooth on the lower left side.

Scott checked it out and said he suspected some of the bone in my jaw had died and was sluffing off through the gum, causing the sore that's there and the general pain in the area. He sent me down to my Oncologist/ENT at KU Med Center to get it checked out and I had that appointment on Thursday. Things have continued getting more and more sore over the last couple of weeks and, by the time I saw Dr. Tsue my tooth was very sore, the inner gum is very sore and the underneath side of my tongue back in that area is REALLY sore. It's made eating more of a challenge than it already was.

Dr. Tsue did his normal examination -- stick tubes down your throat through your nose, stick his hands half way to my stomach through my mouth and poke and prod on all the sore areas to see where it is and isn't sensitive. Not fun.

Afterward he suggested a quick surgical procedure. I get knocked out for the festivities, he scrapes the dead bone out and, while he's in there and I'm asleep, he'll do some thorough investigating in my throat, maybe even remove some tissue for testing, to make sure all is well and none of the Cancer has returned in that area. That little bit of fun is scheduled for April 7th and will come on the heels of my Pet Scan and CT Scan on April 1st. So, once we get through all that we'll have a real good picture of where we are with the whole cancer thing at this point in the process.

In the meantime I have some mouth rinse I get to use 4-times a day to keep the area with the open sore clean and free of infection.

Other than this exciting new development with my jaw bone everything else is just continuing on. I still fall asleep most evenings before anyone else and wake up before anyone else in the morning. I have started going to the gym and getting a little exercise. Mostly just walk on the treadmill and lift very light weights. Nothing above my head, though, because of my shoulder. I'm not really stretching the limits on the exercise, taking it slowly instead, but it feels good to get a little exercise and it gets my blood flowing.

Eating has been a bit of a struggle lately. Between dry mouth and my swallowing I've not made a ton of progress. Tastes seem to be improving a bit but swallowing and sensitivity to spice hasn't.

Dry mouth, in addition to contributing to my eating problems, has been a real pain all by itself. I wake up every morning with my tongue cemented to the top of my mouth and the sides of my throat stuck together. Interestingly, drinking water doesn't really help that much. I pretty much carry a water bottle around 24/7 to sip on, but some milk occassionally seems to help more than anything. That doesn't seem right but I'm not asking questions.

Fellow patient Jeff did, in fact, find out the nodules in his lungs were cancerous. He was given a few treatment options and opted for a daily chemo-pill treatment that doesn't carry as many side effects as some of the other options. He started those last week so throw some happy thoughts his direction these next few weeks. He and Rhonda need them.

So, that's the update for now. Between now and early April all I have is Physical Therapy for my shoulder -- which is improving in leaps and bounds -- and a follow up appointment with my Orthopedic Surgeon for my shoulder. So, there may not be tons of updates over the next few weeks unless something changes. But, who knows, maybe I'll get bored some morning when I wake up at 4:00 or 5:00 and I'll throw something out here.