Update 4th October 2013

2 minute read time.

FormerMember

16 Oct 2013

I am now talking with greater ease and although I still have a lot of pain if I speak for a long time I can at least string a few words together. There has been much improvement in this area over the last week.

Yesterday I had my latest consultation at the Hospital. Having not eaten anything via my mouth for well over a month I was a bit apprehensive because I knew they were going to test my ability to swallow something more solid than water. This has been a bit of a hit and miss affair for me but I have been having several spoonfuls of water each day. Long story short – I managed to swallow three teaspoons of what I would describe as crushed flavoured ice. It went down okay and the plan is to try a few spoonfuls of jelly during the next few days. Steak and chips are some way off but progress is being made. I asked the doctor whether I would be eating Christmas dinner with all the trimmings this year (my current gastronomical fantasy) – she was a bit guarded but said that it was a 'reasonable aspiration'. Lynne and I immediately went to Tesco and stocked up on pots of jelly and custard. I tried a few spoonfuls of custard last night but was unable to manage more than three teaspoons. The consultant did say that I have to be patient whilst my body repairs the damage that has been done. All in all it was a good day.

Otherwise things are much the same – still frequent bouts of extreme pain but this is manageable with the array of medication that I have been given. I am also still sleeping for around 10-12 hours each day.

The good news is that time for me is going very quickly – the days are just flying by. I think that fact that I am sleeping so much helps with this.

What is not so good is Lynne and I having to wait until December or January to see if the treatment has been successful. At the moment the oncology consultants won't entertain questions about how things have gone, they just say that the treatment continues to work for several weeks after it has finished and that I need to wait for my throat to rebuild itself prior to any biopsy or scans. Only then will they operate and remove the remaining swollen lymph glands. I understand all that but it is nonetheless very frustrating. I do feel that things have gone well and most of the issues I have at the moment are as a result of the treatment and not the cancer. Lynne and I are still both extremely buoyant and positive about things and we are in no doubt that the outcome will be a good one.