Glad to see that Steve starts his HBO on Monday. Definately crossing fingers that it does the job.
Read this today from a fellow member on the Aussie Cancer Councel site ;
"Had grommets installed, successfully 'dived' today! Have 30 sessions scheduled."
So I guess the tubes Christine refers to are called grommets
Gabriele

Thanks ladies. Steve had his ears tested yesterday by the hbo doctor and all appears ok but not really something we will know until he starts doing his dives. They did discuss possible ear issues as a side effect of the treatment. Luckily for me I have all of you wonderful guys who I have learnt so much from that I have a head start on things when they start talking about them.

Christine I'm with you on the hoping he heals and we can put this behind us. His jaw issue has been dragging on for so long now it will be very nice if it mends well. Good for him because I know the never ending round of doctor's appointments get him down (as they do for all of us). I'll keep you all posted with his progress.

Gabe - now I know what grommets are have heard of them but never knew what they were until now lol.

Love to you all xxx

Hi everyone just a quick update on how Steve is going. I'm glad to say he is about to start week 5 of HBO and is going really well with it. In the beginning he had some anxious moments where I thought he'd never get through it but he's gone great and has not missed a single dive. He is booked in for surgery on his jaw this coming friday the 28th. They are going to remove the dead bone and if need be put a metal plate in to help support his jaw. Then they are putting him back to hbo the next day for a further 2 weeks. Fingers crossed this works and we can continue to move forward.

I'll keep everyone posted on his progress as soon as I can. Thinking of you all and sending all our love from sunny Australia

That is awesome news Wendy!! Tell Steve we are pulling for him! I actually enjoyed HBO even though the drive to get there and back about killed me (almost literally) at the time. I made life long friends in the techs and Dr's who I still keep up with.

Keep us posted!!

Eric

Wonderful news, Wendy. Things seem to be looking up for Steve, and I pray they will continue that way. Everyone is hoping for a great success story.
julieann

I am so happy to see that things are going well for the both of you Wendy.
Suspect Steve is a water person and therefore the dives are doable
Best wishes for Steve�s surgery and recovery.
Love to you both.
Gabriele

Hi Wendy
Sitting here in the background, reading every word you write. Good luck to you both

Prayers and Best Wishes (Fingers crossed).
Steve

Thanks everyone. Your thoughts, prayers, love, hugs and support are as always welcome. We had preadmission today and I pointed out to the doctor's a hard lump in Steve's jaw that has appeared in the last 2 weeks. So off we go to xray's and opg. Looks like his jaw has indeed broken and the hbo has caused it to calcify (I think that's what they said). Anyway the doctor's are going to have a look at the results and let us know if surgery is still a go ahead for friday or if they need to reschedule to do a more difficult surgery being required. They are thinking that it is now a real possibility of putting a metal plate into his jaw as the break confirms that the jaw bone is dead completely in one section and when they remove this dead bone there will be a gap.

Anyway steve doesn't seem to concerned as always. Nothing seems to phase that man. Wish I could say the same. As always I'm doing enough worrying for both of us. I'm just wondering has anyone had surgery like this before and if so what can we expect when steve comes out of surgery. I've seen things where people have drains etc but I'm not sure if this is something we will be looking at. I'm trying to prepare myself incase Steve looks a bit beat up after surgery. I'm not sure what to expect but I want to make sure he see's a bright happy face when he wakes up, not a worried shocked one. The doctor's originally advised it's just going to be an overnight stay (although this could change now) so for us it's his first major surgery requiring a night in hospital. Really not sure what to expect and don't know if anyone can help but thought it was worth a shot to ask if anyone had been through a similar experience.

Also we met a man doing HBO with Steve who is an Oral cancer survivor of 30 years. He is only now showing signs of osteoradiocrenosis. The gift that keeps giving alright but how awesome is it that he's a 30 year survivor

Pretty freakin awesome! he had a great team back that long ago that was really ahead of times you think?
And good luck too!