Last year at this time, when I was enduring the worst of my treatment, I vowed that I would continue to go on this site and post whenever I could because I got so much help from others, especially from those who had made it to the other side. During those last days of treatment and into the first few weeks of recovery I was convinced that I wasn't going to ever see that other side. I got so much strength and hope from people who had been there. Since summer, I have not been very faithful to my pledge to stay in touch, but I am trying. Today I had my monthly laryngoscopy and all is well. Now that I have begun year two, I will have them every other month. A few weeks ago, I had my first annual CT Scan and that is clear. Blood work has shown hypothyroidism, but I am on a med for that and it is a predictable result of radiation. Why am I posting? To show that the other side exists. No matter how hard treatment is, you will get through it. Someone here told me to have patience. Oh how that was hard to hear but the best advice I got. If you are still in treatment, have patience; if you have begun recovery; have patience. Someone here said that he, after half a dozen years, barely remember that he went through this horrible disease. I am not there yet. Recovery was slow for me, painfully (literally) slow for me. My mouth is still always dry; eating is still hard if not soups and stews and ice cream; my neck is tender and my throat is still full of scar tissue and, for lack of a better word, gunk. Overall, though, life on the other side is good. I wish you all, no matter where you are today with your struggles, an abundance of blessings. -Michelle