OK, so I am 6 months post TX and doing pretty good. I eat most things but can honestly say I do not love any food. Somewhat of a chore to eat, but I have to do it. Still eat like a rat, little bites, must have fluid. My throat is still sore but not so much as I need pain med, maybe tylenol a couple times a week. I am starting to gain some weight, maybe 3 of the 40 I lost. I still have a couple of little problems. One is peripheral neuropathy, numness in my fingers and toes. It is a side effect of the chemo. Not terrible, a nusance more than a problem. The other one, this post os about, is stiffness in my neck. Every night I streach my neck and every morning it is stiff and painful for a short while. It is bothersome, not a show stopper on life. And the mobility of my neck is always restricted, I have to twist my whole body to look behind me and I can not look straight up. I will keep on streatching!.

On the very posituve side, I am back to daily exercise. I was a dedicated triathlete a year ago and I am glad to say I am on the road back. I swim almost as well, ride OK and I waddle instead of run but to cover some ground, I am also lifting weights. It is somewhat funny, I was strong before, I lost so much muscel mass during treatment. In October I could not lift 40 pounds. I was almost ready to get small bags of dog food for a large dog. Well I can heave the 50 pound bags now, so Fido is safe for now.

Stay well!

Steve

I'm glad to hear when others have issues about numbness in the feet, etc. I agree, it's not painful, just annoying. I have had a stiff neck and shoulder in the area I had the surgery as well. I did go to physical therapy for it for a time, and it did help. I also agree, that eating is not fun. It takes me so darn long, and it's hard to find something that actually tastes good!

Hopefully you can overcome the stiffness with work. I had a really rough time for the first year or so post surgery...lots of physio, exercises etc. and the mobility improved for a while. Unfortunately, I developed widespread fibrosis in the side of my neck and head making the stiff neck thing an ongoing "legacy" issue.
I still exercise daily and have found much to my surprise that getting back on the motorcycle helps with mobility. I wear a full face helmet to protect the parts that have been rebuilt, as well as what few brain cells I still have. Interestingly enough, speed + wind + fullface helmet = a continuous, gentle dynamic stretch of my neck muscles. My neck actually feels looser and I have more flexibility after a day of riding that before.
All told, it's not a deal-breaker. it's all about developing work-arounds that you can live with.
Good luck!

Steve,

Don't get discouraged on the saliva/taste front. At 6 months post Tx you are really not that far along. It wasn't until my 15th month that I finally was satisfied with my saliva/taste (which I believe go hand in hand) and I even saw a slight additional improvement at 24 months. I also didn't see constant improvement or at least not so I was able to detect it. The improvements I noticed came at 4, 5, 15 and 24 months.

Can't help you on the other questions as I never experienced any of those things.

Ease off on the exercise a tad as your body has been through an awful lot and it in a big time healing mode so don't add to much more stress to an already stressful situation. JMO I didn't gain a pound my first year of recovery and I consumed at least 3000 calories every day. Tells me my body was using those calories to heal.

Steve

It will keep getting better and better. The neck stiffness will require daily stretching and if you have access to steam room, stretch and massage it while heating up. One surprisingly good stretch is to lie on your back with your legs/feet straight up against a wall - forming a 90 degree angle. Try and keep your butt flat against the wall and then lower your head. This stretches the fascia that often tighten up on the neck.
Congratulations on your recovery
Charm