Hi All,

I've been in a funk for the last 3 weeks, with not much interest in anything...but I'm finally starting to feel better.

From my last post, I was very very distraught because the RO thought I had another cancerous node based on a CT and PET. Then I had a CT guided biopsy (a very unpleasant experience). The good news is that the results were "normal", no evidence of cancer. Thank God. Must have been a false positive, of maybe a medical miracle...I tend to think it was the latter.

I finished my last tx on January 17th. Since then, things went downhill for a few weeks, especially with fatigue and pain.

Now, I feel like I'm on the mend.

I've lost 30 pounds, and now weigh about as much as I did junior year in high school.

My voice is still messed up, but it seems to be getting better.

My right ear is dry...no ear wax. I view this as a big deficit, as I know ear wax stops infections.

I'm able to eat pretty much anything now, as my mouth is no longer tender. It takes a very long time to chew the food up into fine particles.

My throat is still sore, and I'm still on the fentanyl patch. These patches are nice for pain, but the constipation is tough to deal with.

My beard hair is gone in patches that were exposed to the radiation. Ditto with the bald patch on the back of my head.

My scar from surgery is healing nicely and soon will hopefully be even less noticble.

I get tired easily...the RO said I would not have fatigue...he was WRONG.

I don't think I could have tolerated another week of treatment without resorting to a PEG tube...

My taste is pretty much gone, I can only get a very small hint of taste. However, salts and sweets I can't taste at all.

I still wake up in the night to spit out grotesque mucous, but the frequency is dropping to 2-3 times per night. This is a big relief, as I was waking up every hour or two to spit to keep from choking.

I swallowed a vitamin yesterday--this is the first pill I had since almost choking on a pain pill about 6 weeks ago.

In all, I missed about 3 weeks of work during the tx.

I'm looking foward to feeling better, exercising and eating right.

I'm thankful that this is almost over...I still have a way to go for recovery, but at least I'm over the hump and can be improving every day.

Jenna, I'm glad to see that you've made it through also--keep hanging in there.

I would not wish radiation treatment onto anyone, but it is curative and survivable. It is a humbling and painful experience.

My best to all,


Oscar