Hi Jeff;
I mentioned to my wife only this morning that I noticed the "wooden-ness" of my left shoulder had evolved enough to finally make comment. It now feels almost normal with the exception of some soreness at the tip of the collar bone (please pardon my lack of proper medical terminology and nomenclature). I have sensed changes to the hearing capability of my left ear a couple of times in the last 2 years, but the muffled ringing usually returns a short time later. I understand that most instances of tinnitus is usually attributed to chemotherapy, but in my case I am fairly certain it arrived immediately following surgery.

Other effects of my surgery? Well, I am still trying to find out what happened to the missing half of my neck now that anything north of my chest resembles that of a bobble-head doll. Surgery also cost me the loss of my long, flowing shoulder length hair that a number of friends felt was a little excessive for a semi-retired 55 year old male with only a mild interest in the pursuit of his youth, but I think they were just jealous!

I have fought hard against trismus (reduced jaw movement) with passive stretching exercises with the Therabite system and experienced tremendous results, but I have had to forego treatment the last month or two while the dentists try to deal with some exposed bone in my lower mandible due to osteoradionecrosis. I find it difficult to determine whether the radiation or the surgery was responsible for various other effects or difficulties, more likely a combination of the two. I have heard that radiation damage will continue to deteriorate affected tissue, and that seems to be quite true with the muscles in the neck and shoulder area which were also affected by the surgery. My whole upper body seems to be stiffening-up to some degree, and day to day activity doesn't seem to limber it up at all.

Out of curiosity, what do you do for pain management? Do you follow any particular exercise regimen? Any detail you would care to share would be appreciated.

Every body is different I am told, but I have found this website to be a veritable goldmine of information and support. There seems to be a lot more in common with most survivors I have communicated with so far, and that has been a source of encouragement.

Anyway, the best of luck to you, and I look forward to your reply.

Kindest regards,
JT2