Jan 12 - In the middle somewhere

I noticed that Dave hasn't updated the Blog in a few days and since it's been a fairly eventful week, I figured it is probably time to update everyone. Dave is pretty much enjoying the break in treatments, and feeling pretty good.
Wednesday was David's 18th birthday (I can't believe my baby is "an adult" now) and we kept it pretty low key. David is still working through a cold - lots of hand washing, hand sanitizer, wiping down all every touchable surface multiple times, as well as pushing the fluids, vitamins, and fruits.
Thursday we had an appointment with Dr. Hollis (PEG) and actually only saw his nurse, Kathryn. Dave's PEG is doing well, it has developed some scar tissue around the tube, but the discharge has pretty much subsided. We talked with her about the upcoming radiation treatment, the possibility of needing to use the PEG, reconfirmed the use of Prilosec and then she gave us some Prevacid in a SoluTab formula. It is in the same family, only it dissolves easily in water - so when Dave can't swallow anymore, I'll just dissolve the tablet and send it to his stomach through the PEG. She has a cousin in Texas who was diagnosis in October with the same type of cancer that Dave has, with his primary site being the base of his tongue. He has been going through radiation treatment since the later part of November. He has a web log that he and his wife keep up to let family and friends stay updated. He elected not to get a feeding tube, and from his last few entries, eating and drinking are becoming a problem. So we have an upside to having the PEG in for so long - Dave is comfortable with it. Cleaning is primarily done while Dave is in the shower with the running water. After drying off, we still put the antibotic ointment around the insertion point, then just a small piece of gauze between the plastic disc and his skin, and tape the tube to his side. His skin is really improving with the lack of constant taping. Dave can even flush the PEG himself - which he has had to do a couple of times since I've been working most of this week - but it is just easier if I do it.
Today (Friday) we went and saw Dr. Debo (ENT). It was a good appointment. Dave has been having a drippy nose for about the past 4 days, and a slight bloody nose in the morning (which I didn't know about until the appointment today). Dr. Debo confirmed that Dave's nose is really dry, and recommend he use a saline gel in his nose to keep it moist. It has been really dry around here the past few days, and I have also woken up to a dry nose the past few mornings. Dave's scar has also been sore the past few days. Dr. Debo also looked at it, most likely Dave either has a couple of stitches that are trying to come to the surface or an ingrown hair or two. We are going to keep an eye on it. We also picked up a letter from him for my temporary humanitarian reassignment request. My CO and XO have been very good over the past couple of months to give me the time off that I need to take care of Dave, but we are rapidly coming up to the point in his treatment where I can't do both, and at this time Dave comes before Navy. After 21 years and the sacrifices that we went through last year - two deployments, I don't feel bad asking for a little time off to get Dave through this. I'm not quite ready to retire yet - have to get David through college. Dr. Debo's letter was the last item I needed for the package - it is going to be sent to PERS on Tuesday, and I should be reassigned to a local shore command by the end of the month. Once through the treatment and Dave is back whole again, I'll be sent back to another ship to finish out my Department Head tour.
I think I've written enough - actually it's 10pm and I need my sleep. Dave will probably update this tomorrow. Thanks for the love, support and comments.

Update

It's been a couple days since I last posted and every day I feel better and better. I'm actually feeling good today. Most of the side effects that have been bothering me are gone. I still have a slight ringing in the ears which remains constant. I'm actually starting to get used to it.
Food is beginning to taste better and better each day. I can eat most foods now but still things aren't exactly perfect yet. I'm figuring on how things are going that taste buds should be back to normal in a couple days.
Other than that, we're trying to get back to normal operations around here.

My son David, came down with a cold last night and ended up staying home from school today. I'm trying to be careful about staying away from him and not catching his cold. I went around this afternoon and wiped all the door handles, refer handle, phone and anything else we all might touch around here with some disinfectant wipes. Both of us are also trying to keep our hands washed to avoid any more germs. Marjie picked up some of those surgical masks from the pharmacy today and I'm having David wear one when he's around me. This all might be overkill, but since my immune system is down right now, I really don't want to catch his cold. Hopefully he'll be feeling good tomorrow and we can get back to normal in that respect soon.

I'll probably slow down on posting to the blog for awhile since I don't anticipate much happening for the next couple weeks, but I'll still try post something every few days.

Thanks again for everyone's support during this ordeal. I appreciate all the posts, emails, cards and letters!