Tuesday, June 5, 2007

2 Months Out

We'll today is the 5th of June and it's been 2 months since my last radiation treatment. Figured I ought to put how I'm feeling and coping with the situation.

Food still doesn't taste like it should. Breads, pasta, crackers, cookies etc...seem to just get all balled up in my mouth and definitely need water or milk to break them down to make them easier to swallow.

I've found that shrimp and crab taste good and both go down good. I've been eating eggs and cereal for breakfast. Eggs taste good, but the cereal starts tasting bad about half way thru. Fruits also go down pretty well.

My throat gets a little sore every once in a while, but nothing compared to how it felt a month or so ago. Pretty much, I can eat most food...it doesn't all taste like it should but I can at least eat.

My weight is still down (147-149lbs), and I think this is largely due to the fact that I'm just not eating a lot of food. I figure my stomach has probably shrunk a little and since food is not tasting so great, I don't eat much of it. Marjie is constantly on my case about eating and trying to fatten me up.

The thick saliva and mucus is almost gone. I wake up in the morning and have to yak out a few globs of spit, but at least I'm not having to carry around that spit cup.
I'm thinking my salivary glands are still not up to par as proven by food not tasting quite right, the fact that breads and pasta don't break down properly and the spit issue in the morning.

My beard is whacked. I have whiskers on the top half of my face but they stop about a half inch before my jaw bone so my neck is still totally smooth. About two weeks ago, the whiskers started re-growing on my chin.
I still have two bald spots on the back of my head adn Marjie said that she is starting to notice some new hair starting to sprout up on the right side.
The rest of my hair is growing ok but the hair is really fine. It reminds me of a baby bird like an ostrich. Hair color is gray!

I feel pretty good these days, but every once in a while my throat gets sorer than normal or my stomach hurts or something gets out of whack and I start worrying! Who knows!

Had my first CT scan done yesterday and have a PET scan scheduled for tomorrow. I'll call Dr. Debo this afternoon and schedule an appointment with him so we can review the results. He wants to perform a procedure where they put me under anaethesia and he goes in and does a biopsy of my tonsil. I guess it's just to be on the safe side. He says if there is any cancer at that point, he'll go ahead and remove the tonsil....

Just a 2 month update. More to follow.

3 comments:

Chris said...

Hi Dave,

I'm 1 mo post op from tonsil and lymph node surgery, and have been surfing the net looking for information. I've read your blog from start to finish over the last few hours. I now know about what I'm in for. It looks like a long hard road, for me and my wife.I'm so glad you are feeling so much better. It really gives me hope.Something I'm in desperate need of right about now. I'm a few years younger than you,(43)so hopefully I'll pull through also.I'd so like to fast forward my life 60 months ;)Keep it updated as you can. People appreciate it, more than you may realize. God bless you, and take care.
Chris H
Baltimore

Chris said...

Hi Dave,

I'm 1 mo post op from tonsil and lymph node surgery, and have been surfing the net looking for information. I've read your blog from start to finish over the last few hours. I now know about what I'm in for. It looks like a long hard road, for me and my wife.I'm so glad you are feeling so much better. It really gives me hope.Something I'm in desperate need of right about now. I'm a few years younger than you,(43)so hopefully I'll pull through also.I'd so like to fast forward my life 60 months ;)Keep it updated as you can. People appreciate it, more than you may realize. God bless you, and take care.
Chris H
Baltimore

p.s. Love the scar! looks just like mine;)

Patrick Crain said...

Dave and Marjie,

I received an email from JR and he put me onto your web site.

I hope you remember me, I was stationed at Stockton with you guys, we had some fun times on the delta!

I had no idea you were going through all of this. Kitty and I read this blog last night. OUR PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU!

You are still one tough, brave SOB!

You'll be fishing and ‘baggin the Elk soon buddy.