Radiation Appointment Set

We have an appointment for February 18 at 1:30 to go in and get the first radiation meeting with Dr. Mundy at the Fentress Cancer Center. There won't be any actually done that day, but it's the first step. I have to heal completely from the teeth pulling before the area can be irradiated.

Also, we may actually be able to work out something with the chemo doc. We're not sure yet, but we'll call tomorrow. More on that later.

Saw the oral surgeon

Saw Dr. Collins today and I guess he chose the high road on the Sunday phone call, because didn't say anything. And I didn't have a chance because he was in the room about 10 seconds alone, and what I was going to say wasn't something I'd planned to say in front of anyone.

So, that whole thing got skipped. I'm not real happy about it, but there we are. Disaster averted. :)

The infection is better. The left side of my mouth is well and the right side is about where it was on Saturday before I started having problems. I've got enough antibiotics for today through Saturday night, and I suspect I'll be totally clean then. I've also still been using the salt water rinses and some oral peroxide I've had on hand since last summer. I'll keep those two up through the weekend. So I think we can call that good unless something else crops up.

All the stitches are out of my mouth, and with any luck, that will be it for the teeth.

I'm to call the radiation doctor either today (Dr. Collins will send him an email today) or tomorrow so we can get the radiation treatment start date lined up. Also, we've never heard back from the chemo group, so if we don't hear anything by tomorrow morning, Randall will call them and cancel the appointment we had for February 1. We'll talk to Dr. Mundy about the chemo options when we see him.

So that's where I am. Still eating mainly liquids, though I've added egg salad to the diet. I'm hoping that by Friday I'll be able to add more soft foods because I am REALLY tired of pureed soup. I'm also hoping to have the other blog up over the weekend (I decided I really wanted to finish a needlework project before I concentrated on anything else).

Gratitude only goes so far...

Apparently when you have work done by a doctor that is pro bono, you should be so grateful that you can overlook a little problem like an infection and should not deign to disturb his greatness until business hours during the week.

Or at least that's what I was pretty well told this morning by the oral surgeon when I called because a lump in my mouth was turning into something very unpleasant.

When I had my teeth pulled on Wednesday, I wasn't given a prescription for antibiotics (or anything other than a pain medication), but I really didn't think anything of it because I had just come off of some because of an abscess. Apparently that was a mistake because yesterday a spot on the back of my jaw (where it hinges) popped up. It wasn't anything more than a little annoying, but it woke me up at 5:30 this morning and is now to the point that it hurts pretty constantly and I can't shut my mouth (visualize chewing and you can see what the problem is). There's also a corresponding spot on the other side that has come up since I got up this morning.

So I had to call the doctor. Of course, I got the answering service, which was fine. Unbeknownst to me, she was calling him while I was talking to her. She interrupted me to tell me he would call me after he'd had coffee. Cool. No problem. It was damned early on a Sunday.

I just heard from him and he was highly pissed that I called on a Sunday morning at 6:00. I told him I realized it was inconvenient but I didn't know what else to do. A few words later and he said he'd call in a prescription for antibiotics.

I'll be honest, I have a follow-up appointment on Wednesday. And I'm not too sure I can go in there without opening my mouth. I'm grateful as hell that he did this surgery pro bono, but we didn't ask for that. We were willing to pay even if we had to pay some each month. And when he said not to worry about it that he made enough money, Randall and I were both extremely grateful. However, gratitude does not mean that you can treat me like dog shit under your feet. I've never taken that from anyone before and I'll be goddamned if I'm taking it now.

Gratitude only goes so far.

Liquid Diets Suck

Truly.

After a couple of weeks of eating real food, it absolutely sucks to be back on liquids. Matter of fact, I've been toying with the idea of setting up a sister blog to this that focuses on recipes for people who are limited to liquids, soft food or real food that is easy on the mouth.

I haven't figured out all the details yet, but I think I really want to do that. It's also something that I'm going to ask for reader input on because I'm not crazy enough to think I've got all the foodie knowledge for this sort of thing. There are going to be good eats out there from a lot of different places. The only requirement that I can really say a recipe would need to meet is that it be easy on the mouth.

So I'm going to think on that and I'll probably come up with something in the next week. :)

Work out?

OK. During the night, I noticed that my entire body (except maybe my fingers and toes) feel like I spent time working out for the first time at the gym. Honestly. I absolutely ache all over. Had a hell of a time rolling over and getting out of bed.

All I can figure is that it's from the anesthesia. It's loosening up some, so I don't see any reason to call the doctor. That's a good thing, because I have no idea what on earth I'd say. "Hello. Was there some workout equipment you guys threw me on for a while yesterday?" LOL

Oh. And the ibuprofen definitely has handled the mouth pain which is good news. So unless something unforeseen happens, I think I should get through this OK. I'm being careful not to bend over or do anything that will start the bleeding up again. That's pretty well stopped and I'd like to keep it that way.

So that's my update. Randall is picking up some bags of frozen peas this morning so I can use them as ice packs (thanks Christine and Firefly!), but the swelling is minimal, so I'm hoping it won't interfere with the healing.

I'll post again if there's another update. If not, I've got a follow-up with Dr. Collins next Wednesday at 12:15, and I'm sure I'll post a quick update then.

The Teeth Are History

Hurts, but I'm alive. The Tramadol has, indeed, quit working, but three ibuprofen are knocking the worst of the pain (there are times it's a blessing to have a high pain threshold.). I told Randall to tell Dr. Collins when he calls tonight what I'm doing. There's no point in trying to find a pain med that works, and I told Randall to tell him that if it gets too bad, I'll take benadryl with it and sleep through it. Worked for me when I had surgeries on my feet, and this isn't nearly as bad as that.

I am bleeding, but that's slowing down even when I drink, so I suspect that will mainly end by bedtime. I'm also still numb, though it's wearing off and that's where the pain is coming from. I'm also starving to death, but that's too bad. No way am I going to try more than water or maybe some apple juice tonight. Oh. And my head hurts. Probably because my jaw is swelling and I'm having trouble keeping the ice pack in place. I know those things are suppose to work in theory, but I've never had one that actually stayed in place. I think I'll just try a Ziplock bag with some ice cubes. :)

I imagine I'll go back to bed in a bit. I've been sitting up in the living room reading so the drainage will be better. Really pretty typical stuff. Hurts but not awful. Definitely can deal with it. And it's actually a bit better than I thought it would be, though that may well change in the middle of the night.

Teeth Pulled

I woke Donna up at 5 am this morning and had her to Hillcrest by 6am. Her surgery was to start at 7:30. It apparently started on time and did not take long at all as Dr. Collins was by to tell me there had been no problems at 8:25. She was out of recovery and back in the room before 9am and we left for home about 10am. Donna is back in bed recovering. With any luck she will be up and around more tomorrow.

Follow-up appointment with my ENT

Quickie update before having my lower teeth pulled on Wednesday morning:

Saw Dr. Lehr, and he snipped out the remaining two stitches on my tongue. Poked around in my mouth and poked around on my neck and we made an appointment for late February to follow-up. Looks like we're to the once a month visit stage.

I told him about having to reschedule the teeth extraction which meant that the radiation treatments would probably be delayed a week. He was very happy with my healing progress, but mentioned again that he just felt radiation was something that needed to be done. Since Randall and I both agree with him, I think he was just sort of tossing that out there for good measure. We all agree that the best thing to do is treat this aggressively the first time in the hopes it won't return later. You never know, but this is the time to give our best effort even if we have to address it again sometime down the road.

He also cleaned out my ears again. There wasn't as much wax as before, but Randall said there was still more than he would have expected considering he did this in late November. I came home with two nasal spray samples, too, hoping that one of them will address the awful allergies and dizziness that I have now. I told Dr. Lehr that this has been going on for a couple of years, but has gotten progressively worse as I've lived here and that I'd never had it before moving back from Dallas.

Randall went in to the Fentress Cancer Center when we left Lehr's office (they're right down the parking lot from where we were today). There was a new receptionist there, but Randall said she took notes about everything to talk to Dr. Mundy about, and he also said that she mentioned that the dollar figure we'd been quoted by the chemo doctor's office sounded "funny." So I suspect that when Dr. Mundy hears, he'll speak with the doctor over there. We have until February 1 before our appointment, but Randall did tell Mundy's office that if the chemo doctor couldn't work with us, we wouldn't be able to keep the 2/1 date. I suspect if we've not heard anything by next Tuesday, we'll call because we're getting ready to bump into the drop dead date.

So that's where we are. Overall, I think things are going very well. Certainly no new issues cropping up and that's a good thing. I'm to exercise my tongue now because the area is healing and it's beginning to pull. It just needs to be worked and stretched like most scar tissue does so it will become flexible.

I suspect Randall will post a quick update on Wednesday after my teeth are yanked. I have no idea what shape I'll be in, so I wouldn't expect to see me posting here for a day or two.

Teeth pulling rescheduled

Like Randall's quick note to the blog the morning said, I had to rescheduled the teeth extraction because I'd picked up a stomach bug (there's apparently a 24-48 hour one making the rounds). It's been rescheduled for next Wednesday (January 23) at 7:30 am.

Fortunately, it looks like the antibiotics I'm on are knocking the abcsess, so that shouldn't be a factor over the next week. :)

Stomach Bug -- No Surgery

Donna started feeling poorly last night but figured it was the new antibiotic upsetting her stomach. She had a horrible night. When I woke her at 5 this morning she was already awake. She felt like she needed to throw up and had a bout of diarrhea. Since you don't want to be under general anesthesia and have to throw up, we had to cancel the teeth removal. Donna is back in bed. I think I may be coming down with whatever she has as well. Sigh.

RUN, RUN, RUN.

Busy, busy day over here.

Went by this morning and saw the oral surgeon (Dr. Collins) in preparation for the teeth pulling tomorrow. I'd noticed a small sore spot on my upper gum right near the one upper tooth that he's going to pull tomorrow when he goes in to remove all my lower teeth. I figured it was one of two things. A) a reaction of some sort to the clove oil I had to use (started on Thursday and this spot showed up on Friday) or B) the beginning of an abscess.

Yep. Beginning of an abscess it is, so I'm now on antibiotics and the offending tooth will be gone tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm also back on a higher dose of Tramadol since I've got to stay off ibuprofen until after the surgery. So much for backing off that.

Also went by the hospital for all the preadmission stuff. That actually went fast. In and out in an hour. We'll be at the outpatient services tomorrow morning at 6am and the procedure will be at 7:30. Dr. Collins says it takes about an hour for him to do his thing, so with any luck, I'll be home noonish.

Randall also called the chemotherapy office today. Man. It's ugly. Low estimate is $285 and high is close to $400 just to walk in the door and that doesn't include the labwork fee. 20% discount if you pay that day. Well, that's not going to work.

So Randall said he's going to drop in later this week and ask to speak to whomever handles the billing. We got a similar story when I first called Dr. Lehr's office back in November but were able to negotiate a different fee...it's possible that when you talk to the person who answers the phone, you just get a spiel, but if you go in, you get a different story. So we'll try that. The appointment isn't until Feb. 1, so we've got some time to work around this.


That's where we are. I'm hoping Randall will remember to post an update here tomorrow once we get home. I suspect I won't be up and around on the computer until Wednesday.

FOOOOOOODDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!

REAL FOOD. YUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since Wednesday, I've had two Whoppers, French fries and onion rings and an absolutely out-of-this world sundae from Baskin Robbins. I'm SOOOOOOO excited.

Having said that...I've got yet another doctor's appointment. This is a chemo doctor and is scheduled for February 1. Dr. Mundy had mentioned last week that he wanted to consult with a chemo doc, so here we are. I'll go in for bloodwork then and see what he says. Dr. Mundy didn't think it would be done, but he wanted to cover the bases.

So, teeth out on Tuesday. Chemo doc on Feb. 1. Not sure when the radiation will start, but I expect it the first week or two in February. And that's apparently where I'll experience some other problems. Radiation to the mouth/neck can cause all sorts of issues. It kills the salivary glands and also can seriously alter smell and taste. And for someone who loves to cook, that is horrible. All I can hope is that those two faculties will return after the radiation ends. And I expect I'll drop more weight (so far it's been about 35 pounds which I could stand to lose, but would have preferred a different method), but who knows how much. I know eating can be hard because the mouth and throat have issues.

So there we are. More next week after I get back from having the teeth pulled. We're not sure what time, but it should be very early. It's general anesthesia, so though it's outpatient, I don't expect to post anything until Wednesday.

Everyone have a great weekend! Me? I'm gonna cook. :)

Toothies pulled

The oral surgeon's office called, and I'm scheduled to have my teeth pulled next Tuesday morning (way early again) at the other hospital in town. I'll know more on Monday since we'll have to go in and see Dr. Collin's for a pre-op checkup. Since no one said anything different, I'm going on the assumption that he will be pulling all my lower teeth.

I'll post another update when I know something else.

That weeping sound you hear...

Is me finding out that I will essentially be eating soft foods for the next year. And Randall can tell you just how much I've been craving crunchy stuff.

Saw the oral surgeon (Dr. Collins) this morning.

He needs to talk to Dr. Mundy (my radiation doctor) to find out where the radiation fields are gong to be. At this point, he is recommending pulling all my lower teeth and leaving the top (minus one top molar that just needs to come out...and that I knew about). I think he would like to pull the top teeth, too, but it really depends on where the radiation field will be. This will be done outpatient, under general anesthesia at the hospital I was at for my surgery a couple of weeks ago (the actual procedure takes about an hour) and he won't charge us for the extractions (and that is VERY welcome news). With any luck, we're looking at next week...possibly Wednesday.

And that's the good news.

The bad news is I have to wait about a year before I get any denture and that means I'll be eating soft food from now until the next year is up. **sigh** Now, no one has said what constitutes soft food, and obviously it's more than liquids once the healing has happened, but I doubt it's Wheat Thins or any sort of heavily crunchy item.

So that's where we are until we hear from Dr. Collins...nice guy, btw. I wish we'd seen him right off the bat when we got the biopsy done because I think we would have been referred to the right area to begin with. Regardless, though, there's no question we're moving right along now...which is good.

Oh. And I don't expect another update until we hear from Dr. Collins on Monday.

Doctors, doctors everywhere.

Man. Talk about a busy day.

We went late this morning to see the doctor who will do the radiation. This was actually the second time we've seen him because he was our first contact who referred us to the ENT specialist, Dr. Lehr, who did my surgery.

His office has also set up an appointment for me with an oral surgeon for Friday at 12:30. That's the one where I find out how many of my lower teeth will be history. I'll post an update for that tomorrow afternoon. There is also the possibility of chemo, though Dr. Mundy (radiation doc) seemed to think that was unlikely. He'll consult, though, and we'll find out about that down the road.

Anyway, Dr. Mundy said that once the teeth are pulled, he wants to wait 3-4 weeks for some healing before starting the radiation. He will radiate both sides of my neck (and the left side I suspect will also get my tongue just to be safe) and it's a 7 week treatment. Once a day. So, 35 trips to get zapped. I'm gonna glow in the dark. LOL

This afternoon we saw Dr. Lehr. He's very pleased with the healing both in my neck where he removed the lymph nodes and in my mouth. He snipped a couple of useless sutures, and we made a follow-up appointment for two weeks (and then we should go to once a month for the next 12 months).

Essentially we're looking at the textbook answer of 50/50 for a five year survival. That's pretty much what you expect when cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. Having said that, though, I got the feeling he thought that might be a bit on the low side, and, well, positive little shit that I am, I expect to live forever. :) Anyway, I know what to look for, and from the experience a member of Randall's family has had, a recurrence isn't necessarily any sort of a death sentence. The key will be early detection, and you can bet I'm going to be a lot more wary of any area in my mouth or neck that starts acting up for no reason.

So that's where we are. Up next. Find out when my teeth get yanked and I am REALLY not looking forward to that because along with my weird ass pain medication issues, you're looking at the person who doesn't deaden completely.

Once the date is set we move to the next round. I was sort of disappointed when Dr. Mundy informed me I wouldn't lose my hair because of the radiation. I was hoping to put in a request for curls the second time around. Bummer. Looks like board straight is my lot in life. Oh well.