Okay, so I’ve sorta hammered out a format, started to upload some basics for my oropharyngeal carcinoma website. Its a bit rough at this point, but you might want to take a quick look and let me know what changes we should be considering here…http://members.shaw.ca/rbspechtYa, I know… I gotta get a cool domain name to go with it, but for right now, just take a look at the site, okay? Continue reading Building the companion website
I continue to exercise my jaw, mostly by talking, (and most of that is to myself when Gail is at work) to try to get back the range of motion that I had prior to the surgery in November. The term “mandibular swing” still makes me think of the cinematic ‘Predator’ and the way in which his jaw operates. Ugly… just plain ugly. I can’t quite get three fingers, stacked vertically, in my mouth, but its really close. The hinges of my jaw are functioning brilliantly, clicking only occasionally. In fact, sitting here right now, I can’t make them click. … Continue reading Status of the Mandibular Swing
Medical News and Health News Blog » Newer Radiation Treatment Easier For Some Throat Cancer Patients This link will take you to an article that deals with a newer form of radiation therapy (IMRT vs CRT, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy vs. Conventional Radiation Therapy) that is easier on the patient. I’m going to get in touch with Dr. Jha at the Cross Cancer Institute and find out if this is what they’re planning for me… some of the things that the techs have said during the prep work sorta makes me think we’re headed in this direction. Remember that the … Continue reading Medical News and Health News Blog » Newer Radiation Treatment Easier For Some Throat Cancer Patients
Its an interesting question, and one that I seem to be getting more and more from our close friends and family (Nancy, the big brother, my father). I seem to be able to deflect most questions about how I’m doing by pointing out that I’ve survived the first phase ‘ahead of the curve’ and am now waiting for the real challenge of radiation and chemo therapy to begin. Most people nod, understanding or appreciatively, and let it go at that. Sometimes there is a brief discussion about the implications of the treatments, but then they let it go and we … Continue reading But how do you REALLY feel?
Word from the family in England is that the eldest sister-in-law has landed in hospital with some sort of abdominal complaint. I’m still waiting for details…But a conversation we had a few days ago with friends had a theme that pointed out that if something is going to go wrong, its probably gonna happen in your fifties, otherwise you’ll sail through to old age with few problems. Well, Gail’s got her traumas, I’ve got my cancer and now my dear sister-in-law is down. I’d be very curious to see if there are any real stats on this observation. Continue reading Getting through your fifties appears to be the challenge!
This afternoon I spent a couple of hours with Irene of the COMPRU team, essentially going through the same process/procedures that we did last November. (And I got up the nerve to ask her if those brilliant blue eyes were really hers. She does wear blue lenses over her own grey-blue eyes. Its a fabulous effect!)We started off with the head shots: full frontal, three quarter frontal, both sides and half frontal, both sides. Then we went into another examination room where they took closeup shots of my mouth. It takes three of ’em to do it; one to hold … Continue reading Visiting with Irene at COMPRU
As promised, here are a couple of shots of the forearm skin graft area. Remember that this is the area from which they pulled tissue to repair the back of the throat and the back of the tongue after removing the tumour and excising extra for ‘margins’. Please also note the long, thin scar running up the arm; this is where they removed the radial artery used in reconstructing/reconnecting the arteries and veins damaged during the surgery. Hmmm… I really need to use a bit more vitamin e cream on that.By the way, the Lee Valley Tools mucking gloves work … Continue reading Updated ForeArm Photos and other updates.
In one of the Canadian Editions of Reader’s Digest, in the ‘Medical Breakthroughs’ there is an article about portions of the surgery that I underwent. It specifically references two of the surgeons and radiation specialists on my team: Jha and Seikaly. These two were instrumental in the development of the use of forearm tissue to replace damaged tissue in the back of the throat and the tongue, and for the saliva gland transplant. I’m having trouble find a copy of the article on the Internet, but I will post the link here if I can find it. It mentions that … Continue reading Some background reading…
There are certain day-to-day frustrations that accompany this bloody condition, some of which are directly tied to the nature of the surgery performed. But I think that maybe, just maybe I’ve found a solution to one of them; contact with water. It makes bathing annoying, showering very frustrating and so far, use of the hot tub, which would help with the shoulder issues, completely out of the question. The frustration with showering and bathing is that the forearm skin graft that must be protected from shampoos and soaps, and kept reasonable dry while showering. It can be done with or … Continue reading Just a hint…
With a view to trying to keep things in balance, we continued to deal with the reality of living this morning by leaping out of bed early and heading downtown to The Boardroom for a haircut. The young woman who normally does my hair decided to take a weekend to go skiing (good for her!) and left me to a slightly trashy looking woman that is, reputedly, one of the studio instructors at the local hairdressing school. I was not impressed by her, and definitely not impressed with my haircut and her ability to listen to and interpret instructions. Its … Continue reading