It Might Get Messy

At the Greater Baltimore Medical Center you don’t get a cancer doctor. You get a designated SWAT squad. Among MDs, I have a surgeon, a radiologist (since retired), an oncologist, and a dentist. At the next level, I have a PhD dietician and a Master’s level physical therapist. 


I went to see Dr. T, oncologist (and haematologist, but I haven’t needed that specialty), this week. On my way in to the examining room, I passed Dr. D in his office. Dr. D was on duty in the emergency room that Sunday morning I showed up dehydrated and anemic. He remembered me. That’s a skilled physician!


Dr. T is generally happy with my condition. My weight is stable on a diet of one enormous Carnation Instant Breakfast shake and three cans of liquid medical food a day. My teeth are good—dental hygiene is a huge concern in throat and tongue cancer because salivary glands are destroyed and damaged by radiation. Visible infections in my oral cavity are all gone. 


But that pain at the lower left side of my tongue—approximately where the tumor was—came back as soon as I closed out the Fluconazole—that’s the vaginal yeast infection stuff—prescription. Dr. T looked close, and went back to check the post-treatment imaging. There was absolutely no potential tumorous activity at that spot then, and there is no tumor material there now. No thrush, either. But, since the Fluconazole fixed the pain and now the pain’s back, she put me back on Fluconazole. We’ll have to see how it goes this time.


Speaking of salivary glands…we were speaking of those somewhere up there, weren’t we? Oh, there it is. Ok, speaking of salivary glands. Mine seem to have sorted themselves out within the past week or so. The thick ropey mucous forms in the throat from one kind of gland, a type that survives the radiation. The reason you mostly don’t have a problem with it is that it mixes with the thin mucous from the glands higher in the throat (and mouth) and the net texture is normal saliva. The past few days, some of my thin salivary glands seem to have started functioning. This is much more comfortable. And easier to work with. As in “at work”. A bunch of us share a very small space in our Eastport marina location, and there’s only one bathroom. It’s not really possible to politely clear a mucousy throat under such conditions. 


I took my first stab at a jog today. It’s warm enough outside so I didn’t feel like I was going hypothermic immediately. I managed about 300 meters jogging, and a few more walking. My body felt like…well, like it had spent the past year in bed. Which it pretty much has! But the exercise felt good. Hopefully I’ll be back to 5K a day soon. I’ll have to watch my weight, though. I’ve been stable at 194 (down from a peak of 276, I’ll have you know). I may need to increase my calorie intake. And, since I need to start getting substantive calories by mouth (beyond my thick shake), the timing is perfect. Scrambled eggs, here we come!


Thanks for stopping by, everyone. I hope everybody’s noticed that day length is increasing palpably (can day length be “palpable”?). Spring is just weeks away. The beach house is rented for July. I can not WAIT to park my not-so-rotund-as-before butt in the sand and watch the manta rays leap out of the surf! Special thanks this week to Ginger, Gail, and Sam S. for the nice notes. Happy New Year, everybody. With a little bit of luck (and/or Xanax) it’ll be a good one!