Well 10 years after the end of treatment is often quoted as the accepted date for saying that the treated cancer is gone for good. Unfortunately the radiation side-effects will never go away and a different cancer could develop, but I'll take the good news for now.
My oncologist told me 5 years ago that if I was diagnosed today I'd have surgery rather than chemo-radiation. That would have made the aftermath so much nicer. But, of course, If I had waited I'd have died. All the dental stuff is just part of the new normal now, including living with my infected cracked tooth.
Other than the dental stuff and the osteoradionecrosis "sword of Damocles" hanging over my head, life is back to normal. Carpe diem my friends!
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Last treatment tomorrow!
Finally, it's here...the end of the beginning. Tomorrow (Friday, April 3) is Todd's last day of radiation. Today, since the kids were out of school, they went with us to UCSF. They got to see the basement waiting room with the depressing little dark painted "boxes" on the wall (done by the "Art for Recovery" group, so that's how they were feeling.
Good News Day
So many people to thank this week: Glen for driving on Monday, Roni on Wednesday, and Ken the afternoon shift on Friday. Plus, Chris' wonderful chicken dish on Tuesday and Christie and Jim's stuffed shells on Thursday (and Peg's brownie and tulips!)
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The Best Possible Words
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I guess the good news is that I've completely adjusted to my new normal and life goes on.
The BIG NEWS is that my radiation oncologist said some very special words to me. She said that she believes I am disease free! Massive weight lifted, big sigh of relief...
Just to remind me that getting old is not for sissies, I had a scare recently. I woke up and felt my right eye drooping and I couldn't keep water in my mouth. I thought I was having a stroke. Bonnie took me to the emergency room and luckily the doctor said I wasn't having a stroke. I had Bell's Palsy, which she was very sure of since she had had it herself. For some reason, probably a viral infection, the facial nerve on one side gets inflamed and shuts down. She told me that it would get worse for 48 hours and then it would probably get better. The getting better could take 2 weeks to start or 2 years and she was guessing earlier rather than later since my symptoms seemed mild. This was good news since the probability of near complete or complete recovery was higher if the recoverys started sooner.
So off I went on a 2 week business trip to France with my eye goop (a mix of mineral oil and petroleum jelly) to keep my eye from drying out at night since I couldn't completely close my eye, my black pirate eye patch and some drugs to assist in my recovery. They say everything is relative and in this case it's true; after my cancer journey this just didn't seem like a big deal. Talking funny and having trouble eating and drinking just wasn't that bad and it was probably temporary to boot.
So far I've recovered about 95%. I still have problems getting soap in my eye in the shower and my smile is still a bit asmymmetric but the important thing is my cancer seems to be gone and for that I'm very very thankful.
The BIG NEWS is that my radiation oncologist said some very special words to me. She said that she believes I am disease free! Massive weight lifted, big sigh of relief...
Just to remind me that getting old is not for sissies, I had a scare recently. I woke up and felt my right eye drooping and I couldn't keep water in my mouth. I thought I was having a stroke. Bonnie took me to the emergency room and luckily the doctor said I wasn't having a stroke. I had Bell's Palsy, which she was very sure of since she had had it herself. For some reason, probably a viral infection, the facial nerve on one side gets inflamed and shuts down. She told me that it would get worse for 48 hours and then it would probably get better. The getting better could take 2 weeks to start or 2 years and she was guessing earlier rather than later since my symptoms seemed mild. This was good news since the probability of near complete or complete recovery was higher if the recoverys started sooner.
So off I went on a 2 week business trip to France with my eye goop (a mix of mineral oil and petroleum jelly) to keep my eye from drying out at night since I couldn't completely close my eye, my black pirate eye patch and some drugs to assist in my recovery. They say everything is relative and in this case it's true; after my cancer journey this just didn't seem like a big deal. Talking funny and having trouble eating and drinking just wasn't that bad and it was probably temporary to boot.
So far I've recovered about 95%. I still have problems getting soap in my eye in the shower and my smile is still a bit asmymmetric but the important thing is my cancer seems to be gone and for that I'm very very thankful.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Welcoming a New Year
Bonnie and I spent last night with our long time gourmet group. The dinner and festivities hosted by Jim and Kristie have become a wonderful tradition for our group. It was great spending the evening with friends and having such superb food and wine.
There's been a lot going on since my last report. In September Bonnie and I went to Germany to pick up my new BMW Z4. The unveiling at the BMW Welt outside Munich was incredible. After spending over half a day having her presented to us, touring their museum, doing a plant tour and snacking in their luxurious lounge, we took off for Fussen and Neuschwanstein, which was the inspiration for the Disneyland castle. We stayed at a little chalet on an Alpine lake. We had toured the castle years ago but I wanted to hike to a bridge and waterfalls above the castle that I hadn't done the last time. After that we drove through the Austrian Alps on the Grossglockner Hochalpinestrasse (high alpine road) to the tiny village of Heiligenblut. On the way the temperature got down to 46F and we had the top down but Bonnie asked me to turn down the heat because she was roasting. The Z4 is really set up for top down enjoyment with a heavy duty heater and seat heating in the seat and back.
Next we drove to Vienna where my college roommate is working for the International Atomic Energy Agency. After spending 3 days catching up and touring Vienna, we drove along the Danube to the charming little village of Chesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. The highlight of the week long driving trip was right at the end. As we were approaching Munich on our last night before Bonnie went home and we turned the car in for shipment to the US, I told Bonnie that my only regret was that I hadn't been able to drive on the unrestricted section of the autobahn after the break in period (kept under 4500rpm and 100mph for the first 1200 miles). She asked me how much longer we needed to drive to complete the break-in period and I told her about 2 hours. She said, "Let's forget planning a nice farewell dinner in Munich and just grab a bite at a McDonalds we saw and get back on the autobahn and get it done!" What a gal.
Well 2 hours later I found a big gap in traffic and as the odometer clicked over to 1200 miles I let her loose. Man those German roads are great. My new baby topped out at 157mph and it was smooth as glass. I didn't stay there too long as we were rapidly gaining on the pack ahead of us; just long enough for Bonnie to get a photo of the speedometer.
Since I had decided to go all out on the car purchase I didn't have them ship it home but had it sent to the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina. From there Vince our neighbor and I drove her home. The highlights of that trip were a visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway with the top down at sunset and the temperature approaching freezing, driving the 318 turns over 11 miles of the "Tail of the Dragon" near the Smokey Mountains all in 2nd gear, spending a couple days in New Orleans and San Antonio, touring the Carlsbad Caverns, driving through the Mohave Desert and arriving home with just over 5000 miles after only 14 days of actual driving. It's a very comfortable car.
We had a wonderful holiday season. Both the girls were home from college and we had the biggest tree ever. My sisters and their families came to visit between the holidays which kept us busy showing them around and cooking for 15. It was fantastic seeing everyone together.
Hard to believe it's been a little over 3 years since I was first diagnosed. I get another MRI on January 3rd and expect to see both my doctors before mid-February. My new normal has stabilized and I'm at peace with that most of the time. The holidays have been just an additional reminder to enjoy life, family and friends. Carpe diem and drive with the top down!!
There's been a lot going on since my last report. In September Bonnie and I went to Germany to pick up my new BMW Z4. The unveiling at the BMW Welt outside Munich was incredible. After spending over half a day having her presented to us, touring their museum, doing a plant tour and snacking in their luxurious lounge, we took off for Fussen and Neuschwanstein, which was the inspiration for the Disneyland castle. We stayed at a little chalet on an Alpine lake. We had toured the castle years ago but I wanted to hike to a bridge and waterfalls above the castle that I hadn't done the last time. After that we drove through the Austrian Alps on the Grossglockner Hochalpinestrasse (high alpine road) to the tiny village of Heiligenblut. On the way the temperature got down to 46F and we had the top down but Bonnie asked me to turn down the heat because she was roasting. The Z4 is really set up for top down enjoyment with a heavy duty heater and seat heating in the seat and back.
Next we drove to Vienna where my college roommate is working for the International Atomic Energy Agency. After spending 3 days catching up and touring Vienna, we drove along the Danube to the charming little village of Chesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. The highlight of the week long driving trip was right at the end. As we were approaching Munich on our last night before Bonnie went home and we turned the car in for shipment to the US, I told Bonnie that my only regret was that I hadn't been able to drive on the unrestricted section of the autobahn after the break in period (kept under 4500rpm and 100mph for the first 1200 miles). She asked me how much longer we needed to drive to complete the break-in period and I told her about 2 hours. She said, "Let's forget planning a nice farewell dinner in Munich and just grab a bite at a McDonalds we saw and get back on the autobahn and get it done!" What a gal.
Well 2 hours later I found a big gap in traffic and as the odometer clicked over to 1200 miles I let her loose. Man those German roads are great. My new baby topped out at 157mph and it was smooth as glass. I didn't stay there too long as we were rapidly gaining on the pack ahead of us; just long enough for Bonnie to get a photo of the speedometer.
Since I had decided to go all out on the car purchase I didn't have them ship it home but had it sent to the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina. From there Vince our neighbor and I drove her home. The highlights of that trip were a visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway with the top down at sunset and the temperature approaching freezing, driving the 318 turns over 11 miles of the "Tail of the Dragon" near the Smokey Mountains all in 2nd gear, spending a couple days in New Orleans and San Antonio, touring the Carlsbad Caverns, driving through the Mohave Desert and arriving home with just over 5000 miles after only 14 days of actual driving. It's a very comfortable car.
We had a wonderful holiday season. Both the girls were home from college and we had the biggest tree ever. My sisters and their families came to visit between the holidays which kept us busy showing them around and cooking for 15. It was fantastic seeing everyone together.
Hard to believe it's been a little over 3 years since I was first diagnosed. I get another MRI on January 3rd and expect to see both my doctors before mid-February. My new normal has stabilized and I'm at peace with that most of the time. The holidays have been just an additional reminder to enjoy life, family and friends. Carpe diem and drive with the top down!!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Two Steps Forward and One Step Back
It seems like this is a recurring theme. I had two oncologist exams recently. In June I met with Dr. Fong at Kaiser and had my usual physical exam and had my throat scoped. In August I met with Dr. Yom at UCSF and had another physical and bloodwork done. The verdict for both exams were the same: no sign of the cancer returning. The probabilities of it returning now are pretty low but statistics don't really apply to a sample size of one so although the numbers are comforting, the doctors will never pronounce me cured. That's OK. I'll take what I've got.
The one step back was my dental checkup. I get my teeth cleaned and examined every 4 months. I brush at least 3 times a day, at least once with a prescription level fluoride and I floss at least once a day. My dental cleaning is almost no scraping since I have very little plaque. My appointment in August found a dangerous crack forming on a premolar in the most irradiated section of my lower jaw and 4 caries underneath 4 fillings. So over the next month I'll get a new crown and 4 new fillings.
I did ask Dr. Yom if the danger of oesteoradionecrosis from tooth extractions will ever go away and she said no. The lack of sufficient saliva in my mouth means that acid foods do significant damage to my teeth and the bacteria that cause tooth decay thrive. So now I'm on a new more intensive dental protection regime. I have special basic toothpaste and a mouth rinse which contains sodium hydroxide and the active ingredient in bleach; I kid you not. My dentist wants the pH in my mouth to move from slightly acidic to fairly basic. So I now brush after I eat or drink anything but water and rinse twice a day with my basic bleach concoction. Unfortunately, despite some mint flavoring it tastes and smells like bleach.
Oh well it beats the alternative!
On the home front Dash and I are batching it this week as the ladies are back east visiting Bonnie's mom and dropping Carolyn off at college. It certainly is quiet.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Thumbs Up at Two Years
Last week I had my two years since end of treatment exam. This one is a big one, since a clean exam at two years pumps up the probability of longer term survival significantly. Dr. Fong did a very thorough job of checking me out along with the usual probe through the nose and everything looks great!
I told Bonnie earlier that if I passed this one I was going to buy a new sports car. This is no mid-life crisis. It's a life celebration. Plus the family sedan I drive is now 19 years old. It's still running fine and I plan to keep it but I'm going to go for something a bit more fun!
I took Bonnie out to look at the models I was considering and to discuss colors. When I told her that had narrowed it down to 2 models and each had its attractions. She said, "Well in that case, you should buy both of them." What a gal. We had a laugh later when our good friend and neighbor, Vince, said the exact same thing two days later!
I'm not done with exams. I have 2 more in August; one at Kaiser and one at UCSF. Actually I look forward to them and I would be very disappointed if Dr. Fong didn't stick that probe down my nose. It's something that not everyone would understand I guess.
Bye bye for now. Stay well. Have fun. Play nice.
I told Bonnie earlier that if I passed this one I was going to buy a new sports car. This is no mid-life crisis. It's a life celebration. Plus the family sedan I drive is now 19 years old. It's still running fine and I plan to keep it but I'm going to go for something a bit more fun!
I took Bonnie out to look at the models I was considering and to discuss colors. When I told her that had narrowed it down to 2 models and each had its attractions. She said, "Well in that case, you should buy both of them." What a gal. We had a laugh later when our good friend and neighbor, Vince, said the exact same thing two days later!
I'm not done with exams. I have 2 more in August; one at Kaiser and one at UCSF. Actually I look forward to them and I would be very disappointed if Dr. Fong didn't stick that probe down my nose. It's something that not everyone would understand I guess.
Bye bye for now. Stay well. Have fun. Play nice.
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