Hardware Free

Sorry ladies, no bare-chested photos to gawk at this time around.

Everything went well with removal of my PEG Tube and Port yesterday. I was a little sore last night and that's continued today but not a big deal. For the short term the lump on my chest and the tube sticking out of my stomach have been replaced with several layers of gauze taped on in those same locations, but those will just last a few days then I'll get back to normal. Only other restrictions? No heavy lifting and no swimming for 7 to 10 days. Not clear how I'm going to get by without being able to do those but I'll just have to find a way.

I saw my Orthopedic Doc this morning. I still have some work to do with strengthening but, basically, I'm done with Doctors and Physical Therapists as far as my shoulder are concerned. Plenty of exercises to do on my own at home to maintain my range of motion and to improve my strength, but all stuff I can do on my own.

So, I'm not really sure what to do. As of today I have no Doctor Appointments, scans or anything else medical on my schedule until May 28th. After that my next appointment is out in July. I'm sure my poor car is going to have withdrawals, not knowing what to do without two or three appointments to drive to each week. I'm confident we'll be able to work through it, though.

Along with the decrease in Doctor Appointments, you can also expect a decrease in posts to this blog. Barring something unexpected, I shouldn't have anything new to report for quite some time. My May appointment is just a follow-up with Dr. Tsue (ENT) and my next set of scans isn't until July. I'm sure I'll get a periodic wild hare and post something, but don't expect too much meaningful content before July. Much like my car, I'm confident you'll all be experiencing withdrawals.

Put Your Shirt On!!

Alright, kinda out there on this one, showing off my non-sculpted body. But tomorrow's the day I get my PEG Tube and Port removed. I can't wait.

As you can see the PEG Tube -- the white dangly thing hangin' out of my stomach -- is not exactly a hot, sexy look. And it's always there, in the way, getting caught on my shirt when I move, etc., etc.

I think you can see the lump on my upper-right chest. That's my Port. If you were looking in person or if this were a higher resolution picture you could trace the path of the tube that runs under my skin from the port to an artery in my neck. Again, a hot, sexy look.

But, tomorrow this stuff's all gone. I'll be able to lay on my stomach again, I won't have to worry about the PEG when I'm taking off a shirt, and on and on.

It's Official!

OK, got biopsy results yesterday from last week's surgery and saw my Oncologist this morning to get final Scan Results. Everything was clean.

For the time being, at least, I've nary a cancer cell in my body.

Of course, I have to do this for another 4-1/2 years to really say this is behind me, but this good, thorough set of scans, biopsies and Dr. Tsue's check-up last week gets me off to a strong start for getting through those 4-1/2 years unscathed.

Dr. Williamson wasn't too optimistic about some of my other symptoms -- dry mouth and swallowing problems in particular -- getting much better than they are right now. Those might just be a fact of life from here forward. He's more confident about the fatigue. But that's all side issues today. The lead story today is the scan results and biopsy results. And that was all good.

Also was able to tentatively schedule removal of my Feeding Tube and I.V. Port for next Wednesday (Apr 22). Looking forward to getting all that hardware out of me, particularly the Feeding Tube. Another step in the direction of normalcy.

So it's a good day today at the Robinson household.

Back Home and Feeling Good

Had my scans yesterday and surgery today.

Dr. Tsue scraped out the dead bone from my lower left jaw. No reconstruction or anything like that required at this point. If it heals up the way he thinks it will this will be behind us for the time being at least. Dying bone is an on-going risk after radiation treatments.

While he was in there and had me asleep he did a pretty thorough examination of my throat, esophagus, larynx and all points in between. He took tissue out from a few different spots to run a biopsy on, though he said everything looked good and he doesn't expect anything to come of the biopsies.

He had only preliminary results from yesterday's CT and PET scans but said those both looked good. He said there were some hot spots in my throat from the PET Scan but those looked to be the result of the continued healing from Radiation rather than any cancer.

I'll get biopsy results from today's surgery early next week and I see my oncologist next Tuesday and he'll have final scan results to review with me including the pictures themselves.

So, I'm in a pretty good mood right now. Tentatively optimistic now, reserving the real celebrations for next week after I get all the final stuff.

But, a "Yippee!" is still in order.

Back on Track

OK, after 150,000 phone calls and some help from my H.R. folks, I think we're back on track for everything.

Scans will be Monday afternoon. There was some concern if this would give Dr. Tsue enough time to review the scans and plan his approach to Tuesday's procedure but, as of yesterday afternoon, he tells me to come on in Tuesday and we'll get it done. So, Monday and Tuesday will be pretty busy but, by the end of the day Tuesday, I'll be right where I was planning to be all along. And I'll then have my follow up appointment with my Oncologist the following Tuesday, April 14th.

Quick post today but thought I'd let everyone know.