Nice to be missed. I have just been overwhelmed stepping down from the fentanyl patches to just pills plus trying to get over nasty diarrhea from antibiotics for an infection from some necrotic tissue from this second round of radiation (cyberknife).
Add to that dealing with the bullshit paperwork hassles of my CCC (they require you to re register every month in each different department: cancer center, oncology radiation, testing radiation, rehab, etc at different locations ).
Right now I am hassling over starting up VitalStim swallowing therapy - Georgetown CCC insists I need to get yet another Barium Swallowing Test first before they will even schedule me for the Vital Stim. Unfortunately nobody else within 200 miles offers VitalStim except for some nursing homes and they are not preferred providers for Blue Cross. since I hit my catastrophic protection again this year, everything is FREE with no co pays or deductible if I stick to a preferred provider like Georgetown. Plus my son turns 21 next week so I have been researching a GPS for him and will head out today to buy it.
But I could not post here without some OCF connection and I am very pleased that the preprinted sheet that the Georgetown University Hospital Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Cancer Information & support Groups has 6 recommendations and Oral Cancer Foundation is one of them !!!
I have been loading up all the waiting rooms in the Lombardi Cancer Center and the Oncology Radiation Center with the OCF postcards each visit.
Thanks for checking up on me, I have been very depressed that I have not have not had a sip of water nor a crumb of food since Ash Wednesday.(perhaps a new fasting record for Catholics for Lent)and the first round of swallowing therapy did not help at all. It was this board that mentioned the VitalStim so I am really hoping it will work and am impatient over the obstacles Georgetown is setting up - looks like they won't schedule me until August.
Last but not least, when I see Christine get cancer for the third time I worry if that will be my fate also. My whole medical team did a complete turnaround on St Patrick's day this year when they suddenly insisted I needed more radiation and chemo or else the cancer would come back a third time - all based on the pathology report of "extensive perineural involvement" and "inferior shave margins". Plus the surgery was at the very base of the tongue and the surrounding area all of which are involved in swallowing. I posted the Tyranny of Positive thinking for a reason.
Now you have heard from Charm and can see why I added 2017 because that is when I expect to be charming nor churlish,