OK. Today it is three weeks since I graduated from radiation therapy. I didn't expect chnage for the better immediately, whch is a good thing because the Sunday after I graduated I was running a high fever and, since I was neutropenic (or so I thought--it turned out technically my WBC was a litte higher than the cut off for neuropenia but the oncology nurse had told me I was the Friday before), I ended up in the hospital.

They immedistely put me on IV antibiotics, which was good, and the nurses were great about being sure I had adequate pain meds and that I was being treated for constipation (a couple of things I ahd not been staying on top off adequately at home it turned out). The doc said I had "cellulitis" because my neck was very swollen and the radiation burn was at its worst when I was admitted. They prescribed a burn cream that worked like magic--helped the dead skin peel off the neck within and couple of days and the neck sweeling went down somehwat (but not the cheek swelling--which has also been pretty noticable since the 4th or 5th week of rad.) I was kept in the hospital for nine days while they waited for any other bacterial infections to emerge from the cultures that needed to be treated (nothing did). It was so long because even with the anitbiotics, there was no sudden improvement in my health, just the fever gradually lowered over time until, after nine days, when it wasn't going over 101, at which point I was released. I had heard from a nurse that there were a couple of antibiotic -resistant diseases on the floor and I was glad to be released-even with a low fever still--since I didn;t want to take one of those home!

Since then, some things have improved over what they were when I graduated radiation. I have had another blood test and my white blood cell count has gone up to what my RO told me was "the low range of normal", so that was good news. The most distinct improvement was that I got my voice back which is *really* great (I was tired of having to write notes or whisper soundlessly), though I am still kind of low-voiced and throaty sounding.

BUT I am still spitting and in some cases heaving up all sorts of phlegm in my mouth. It is not quite as stringy as it was, usually, but it is often still a funny color (yellow) and it is abundant enough at some times during the day (and I can't predict when) that I feel like it's keeping me homebound at this point. Even though my blood ell count is OK, I can't go out anywhere public without risking sudden phlegm-stuck-in throat induced puking or lots of spitting (which I can't do wihtout making soem noise) into Puffs Plus as other people give me the evil eye and move away.

Also, the mucositis hasn't chnaged at all. I still have the same sores and lumps and bumps in my mouth. And, I guess because of that, the mouth pain is the same as or worse as it was when I ended rad 3 weeks ago.

But the thing that realy has me frustrated is the phlegm. I am SO sick of spitting all the time and also gagging on the really thick stuff that sometimes gets stuck in the back of my throat. I thought after thre weks most people didn't have phelgm probelms anymore? My sweet husband has suggested that maybe it is bad because the ending of it was kind of delayed by the infection that put me in the hospital. When should I be concerned about ti still being a problem?

I guess I just need some encouragement. I'm not feeling like very much has changed in three weeks. But I guess that could be because I was battling further infection most of that time. I think if the phlegm would go away, or mostly go away, I would feel like I was really on the mend.