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..
