Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and concern regarding my husband. John seems to be a bit better today - but the left (blocked) ear is still bugging him. He was eating better today - he had eggs for breakfast, and a fairly large dinner with meat included. I was doing some research on the net, and I was trying to find more information on the loss of muscle tone in cancer patients - and it mentions a disease called "cachexia" which is fairly common in people with cancer. If my husband is losing muscle tone in the arms and legs - could this be a sign of this disease, which is a "wasting syndrome"? Rosie - thanks (I think!) for the information - but it sure did give me a scare. I think this hopefully will spur John to get to the doctor to get this checked out asap. How is Heather doing lately? Is the chemo she is getting helping to get rid of the re-occurance? Thanks Dinah and Brian as well - the clarification on the words "inflammmation" and "swelling" has been very helpful. I will keep everyone posted on how my husband is doing.