The barium swallow test is quick, painless and not expensive. It would give you a definitive answer to something that may be the problem this time (not an opinion) or the heads up for a problem that might manifest itself in the future.

Thanks Brian, I will ask for this at the next Dr. visit. Gordon is still coughing and there's certainly something going on. He had his PET scan yesterday, and he said it looked like they scanned everything from the thighs up. I'm desperately hoping they won't find anything in his lungs (he's never smoked).
Anne

My son had pneumonia 5 months ago but after Xray recently, showing a spot on his left bottom lung followed by CT scan, doctor said spot was a result of scar tissue from the pneumonia (which was also accompanied by pleurisy and bronchitis.

These are some posts I am glad I read, You just answered some of my questions that I never ask the Drs. I use a lot of milk and just tried the Soy Milk. I liked it and will switch and must thank Brian even one more time for his great advice.

Had a visit to the RO today for PET results and it looks like it's clear. The RO said the results were as good as you'd get from any test. It did show the pneumonia, and he got checked over pretty thoroughly.
This is the first real relief I've had since we had our first visit to the surgeon on Dec. 12 (he took one look at Gordon and knew there was a problem). I know the cancer can come back, but at least we have a hopeful place to start from. Gordon, being who he is, is not feeling much relief at all and is still upset about his wonky taste buds and lack of saliva! (Well, I can't blame him - it must be awful).
Anne

Great results!

So glad for the good results! I'm sure the "wonky" taste buds will improve soon. My son's taste buds improved in small ways and in various places like front of the tongue, back, etc. One thing I noticed is that before trying anything, he would bend his head close to the food and smell it deeply for several seconds. I asked him why he did that and he said that smelling the food was almost like tasting and it brought him memories of what the food had really tasted like before his surgery. We celebrated the small successes like when he was able to swallow one noodle from his chicken noodle soup! Or the day he was able to taste and eat one gourmet jelly bean and his daughter (5 yr old) and I danced around the kitchen!

Thanks for the encouragement Anne-Marie. The story about your son smelling his food almost makes me cry.
I wish Gordon was able to be even a little bit positive about some things that have improved for him. It makes it hard for him and for me when everything is so relentlessly negative. Easy for me to say, I guess, since I'm not the one who's had to endure the treatment.
Anne

Anne - there were many times when my son was not very positive and it broke my heart to see him, and feel like there was nothing I could say or do to make his pain (emotional and physical) any better. Once when I saw him hunched over on the couch with his head in his hands, all I could do was hold him and tell him things would get better. (I may have been trying to convinced myself as well as him) Once, he got angry, accusing me of not knowing how he felt - and I guess that was true but I still wished there were some way I could take away all the hurt. He was on meds for depression at the time so maybe it would have been worse had he not been on the meds. Have you asked the doctor if Gordon could be depessed? Going through cancer treatment I would think is enough to make anybody depressed. Take care of yourself, too, so you can stay positive. Being a caregiver is not always easy.

Thanks Anne-Marie, for the encouragement. I do know that Gordon is depressed and he's on Prozac and Mirtazapine, neither of which seem to be working very well, if at all. We've lost faith in his shrink, who seems to be stuck on Prozac, so we're going to the family Dr. to see about trying something else. It is heart-breaking to see someone you love feeling this way and not be able to do anything about it. As you did with your son, sometimes I just sit beside Gordon and put my arms around him because there's really nothing else I can do. I've given up saying it will get better, because neither of us know when and how much the situation will improve. And he usually just says "when?" and to that I have no answer.
Anne