26th December 2007

On the 21st December 2007 I went to see my doctor because I had noticed something white on my left tonsil and thought I would get it checked before Christmas then I wouldn't have to worry about it during the holidays. This was almost 3 years to the day (last time it was the 19 Dec)that I went for my first visit to the ENT doctor.
My doctor this time had a look and said it was a tonsil cyst and she didn't think it was anything to worry about and to go home forget about it and have a good Christmas!!! She did say she'd let the hospital know that I had been. Afterwards I got to thinking about that time 3 years ago and the words the ENT doc said at the time and it was almost word for word. Is history repeating it self, I wonder...

Wednesday 30th May 2007.

Here is my latest update, it is now 2 yrs since I started and finished the radiotherapy treatment and today I went for my usual check up at the hospital.

Over the last few months it had got to once every three monthly checks but today after the doctor had checked with the mirror he said that people who get my kind of cancer if it is going to return it's usually within the first 18 months and seeing that I had got to 24 months and things were still looking great that he was really pleased with my progress he was going to change my check ups to one every four months. :-))

I'm not saying everything is back to 100% "normal" before the cancer and treatment but as I have heard often what is "normal"? The normal for me now is that I still have to drink plenty as long as it's not fizzy, if I don't my throat gets really dry, I also still have to be careful with foods that have a high acid content, eg: tomatoes, spicey food, onions (unless they are cooked well) I can't eat spring onions or pickled onions at all which is one of the downsides as I used to love them, if I do eat anything too spicy I pay for it the following few days after I have eaten it, with a sore throat and sometimes a croaky voice depending what I have eaten but on the whole I can eat various foods quite well now, one other thing that is still with me which I don't mind, is I still have what looks like a wide tan line on my neck from the radiotherapy that shows more in winter when the rest of my neck and face are pale then in summer but I don't care, I love it, as it is my recovery line!

I shouldn't think I'll be updating anymore unless there's something to report and if all keeps going well then I shall give a little update when I reach the 5 year mark which is when the hospital will discharge me for the final time.

I hope this little journey of mine has helped someone.

To anyone that has to go through this, my thoughts and prayers are with you and one thing I'll never forget that one of the doctors told me when I was first diagnosed and that was "You're going to have to be strong".

So stay strong and you'll get through it, I promise.

Saturday 23rd July 2005

It's been a while since I've posted but that is because everything has been going great, my neck skinwise has improved although it does still look like it has a golden tan but I can now go without the cream if I want but I usually put some on before I go outside so that it doesn't dry out.

Eating and drinking quite normally there are still foods that make my throat feel a little funny it's usually things that are hot like spicy foods also fizzy drinks tend to make it feel weird also but my voice is almost back to normal with just the odd croak at times.

The reason that I'm writing this today is I had a scare, beginning last Friday 15th July, I woke up in the morning and my neck felt swollen I also had the mucus back which I hadn't felt for a long while my throat also felt a little sore, I didn't think much of it at that time as my husband had had a really bad head cold the week before and I thought I was catching it but by Sunday it hadn't turned into one yet the swelling and everything else was there, I started to panic a little thinking that the cancer had either returned or that they hadn't got it all.
I went to see the emergency doctor he barely felt my neck and said it "could" be.. please note he said "could" be an infection so he'd give me some antibiotics just in case but if it didn't improve or got worse I had to go see my own doctor and they would refer me back to the hospital.. I was already thinking yeah right I'm not going to go through waiting weeks for an appointment when all I had to do was call one of the cancer nurses at the hospital and ask their advice. I couldn't do anymore that day except worry a little and called them Monday morning. They said the mucus was normal and nothing to worry about and that I could keep getting that for months what they were more concerned about was the swelling, she asked when my next check up was at the main hospital I told her it was on Wednesday 27th July. She said it might be best to bring that appointment forward and she said she'd contact the other hospital and try and make it for this Wednesday the 20th a week early.

She called me back and said it had all been arranged but if it got worse or if I was worried in anyway I had to contact them again and she would make sure I saw someone there on Tuesday 19th. I managed to hang on and went to the appointment on Wednesday, I saw Mr England the ENT doctor who I saw the very first time I went.

As soon as I walked in he said hi you're the lady that shouldn't have had this, I'm so sorry...
He wanted to know how I'd been and bring him upto date as to where I was at now, I told him the appointment had been brought forward and explained why.

Even before he touched my neck he said that sounds like lymphedema and that it was nothing to worry about seems it is quite normal when someone's had radiotherapy, he told me all I have to do is while I'm watching tv or just relaxing for a while is to gentle rub my neck so that it helps dispurse the fluid, when he examined my neck he just confirmed that was what it was and absolutely nothing to worry about he also had a look down my throat with his little mirror and everything looks okay have to go back in a month for my normal check up. Was sooooo relieved..

Thursday 23rd June 2005

I'm starting to feel better every day now.. :-)

Went to the hospital to visit my dad who has been there a week now, he originally went in for a blood transfusion last Wednesday but on Friday he developed a blood clot in his leg so they started giving him blood thinning injections to break it down but yesterday when we went they'd had to stop them because that was causing more bleeding in his bladder (caused by bladder cancer) but if he didn't have the injections then bits of the clot could break off and travel elsewhere and cause more problems so they were at a catch 22.

Today when we went the doctor said that his urine was looking much better so they are going to start the injections again but he's now dehydrated with not eating or drinking properly so while we were there they put him on a drip he also wasn't as chatty as yesterday in fact yesterday you couldn't shut him up..lol.. but today he's entirely opposite and slept most of the visiting time.

On the 30th of May we had a visitor to the garden in the middle of the day which was rather unusual as they are normally a nocturnal creature, what was it? I think my subject line gives it away..smiles... See below the pictures I took of him before he wandered off.

Wednesday 22nd June 2005

I just want to apoligise to Peter for not answering sooner about his comment on my last blog entry, I have been waiting for today so that I could answer him properly as I didn't know myself what was happening.

I had to go for my first real check up yesterday the last one was just to see if I was recovering from the radiotherapy not from the cancer, last week the oncoligist wanted to know if I was eating okay and if I was still in pain etc and he also checked the skin on my neck.

In answer to Peter's question I can now answer no I'm not having chemo..smiles...Yesterday, the doctor first of all put a small mirror down my throat but he said he couldn't see anything, that in itself gave me hope because the very first time I went and I saw Mr England he could see the lesion with a mirror, so he asked the nurse for a scope this is a small flexible tube with a camera on the end first of all he sprayed something up my nose to make it numb then inserted the camera, it didn't hurt but it was a little uncomfortable after a few ahhhs and errrs which he asked me to do he said that it was all clear except for it still being a little sore but he could see no sign of the cancer and that it had all gone... yeahhhhh, what a relief. He then went on to tell me that I'd have to go back once a month for a year then once every two months for another year.

Of course I'm still having some side effects from the radiotherapy my throat is still sore and a little painful when I eat, my voice isn't back to normal yet but it seems to improve day by day and the skin on my neck now looks like a really good sun tan and I'm still having to put the cream on to stop it drying out and wear a scarf when outside to stop the sun getting to it but none of that matters anymore they are stuff I can cope with knowing they will eventually go.