QOL=Quality of Life

Its now been 5 months since we started active treatment for oropharyngeal carcinoma which included surgery, chemo therapy and radiation therapy. I am ‘back to work’, usually a sign that most things are back to normal, other than the obvious emotional impact that swirls in the wake of any cancer diagnosis. In my case, I am also very disappointed in my current Quality of Life to the point that it is becoming a focus of potential depression. My tongue still doesn’t work the way its supposed to. My tongue still feels swollen, pulls to the right and generally is not … Continue reading QOL=Quality of Life

Lining it all up…

I woke this morning with my tongue and jaw in rebellion. Stiff, uncooperative, its been a chore most of the day to speak, to swallow, to clear my mouth, to swipe my teeth. That very distinctive metallic sensation (not quite a taste, remember?) is back and it is affecting what I try to eat. Lunch was meaningless. Two cookies were almost as tasty as sawdust. A glass of milk felt right. The glass of chardonnay that I just tried was putrid. My neck motion feels restricted, though I can see in the mirror that it is not.Up early this morning … Continue reading Lining it all up…

Quality of Light and Quality of Life

Snow is falling this morning, in big fluffy flakes that remind me of my childhood in Ontario. Unlike most of the snow that we see here in the greater Edmonton area, the snow this morning has a feel like the softness of falling goose down. And being this far north, with the snow, the quality of light is fascinating… but it is exactly that quality of light, and the colour and texture of the sky which makes it so difficult to get a good photograph of the falling snow…The quality of light in the kitchen this morning was not so … Continue reading Quality of Light and Quality of Life