Are those new changes Paul? Getting real tired from seemingly easy tasks that I had done for years was the early onset of some of my issues. Using the hedge trimmer would almost bring me to my knees gasping for breath, sweating and the heart beat pounding in my ears.

Thanks.

I felt good getting out of the house, seeing the sights, people, and ate some clam chowder in Au Bon Pain, a commercial eatery in the hospital, and then saw the social worker. He said getting transportation to NJ, interstate, will be difficult. Obtained some of my records, and then onto the SPOHNC meeting. The facilitator, a SLP, is going to have a swallow study done on me.

Onto getting home. My pick up with access-a-ride was at 5PM. It did not arrive until 6:15PM, and got home after 7PM. I don't know how I'm going to do it during Treatment.

Ed, this isn't really new. I've been like this for 4 years after my chemo in 2009. In fact, I was worse, got a little better, , but depending on any co-conditions like anemia, kidneys, diabetes, neuropathy, dehydration effecting me, and then after each radiation, surgery, chemo, I'm back to where I started. I only go out to see the doctors basically, and use my walker to sit on to cook, which I havent done in a while, have a shower chair, and have everything delivered, food, laundry, prescriptions, and a cleaning woman once a month to conserve energy. I did have a good run going to the gym in the spring a few days a week, which required special supplementation from my doctor, but after the kidney failure in May, recurrence in August, I haven't been there since, and I used to go to the gym sometime 5, 6 days a week since I was 15, depending on my routine, and running, swimming, biking, etc.

Crazy how the vagus nerve regulates or transmits information for about everything you mention. Almost makes me wonder if it was damaged previously or had cancerous cells growing some all the time and impeding signals. I really believe many long term issues are vagus nerve related except peripheral neuropathies. Almost all of those are related to the brachial plexus nerve bundle. It gets bound up from scar tissue, edema and fibrosis and signals are interrupted to arms/legs.

Rest up, eat regular calories and have a great weekend as you prepare to lay out your plan next week.

Ed

Thanks Ed. I didn't consider damage or involvement already being done, and is a possibility, good point. I had radiation 4x, two with IORT during surgery, 5 neck dissections, even a tumor itself, which was at level III at the carotid several times, so it's possible, even just by touching them, from what I understand, to cause symptoms, complications. When I had my radical neck dissection in 2011 the neck muscle, nerve, vein were removed, and cancer was scraped off the carotid artery, and alloderm was placed on it for protection. In a subsequent neck dissection, it had to be peeled off, and with IORT, they manually move, clamp nerve, structures out of the way, and place the radiation applicator directly on the tumor bed.

The hospital called me this morning to schedule a swallow study, so it was good I went to the SPOHNC meeting yesterday.

I was looking into some of my medications I'm taking, which can cause weakness (asthenia), muscle wasting too, not including the chemo drugs I've taken previously, Taxotere, Cisplatin, 5-FU, Erbitux, which are probably even worse offenders.