Tuesday at the University of Chicago

On Tuesday I went to the University of Chicago for three different appointments. First, I had to do a swallow study to see how well the muscles in my mouth are recovering from the radiation and to analyze how well I am able to eat various foods. Basically, they give me different foods and liquids and take an x-ray of me swallowing. I was told that I did very well. There are still some areas that I need to improve and I was given a sheet of paper with various mouth exercises that I am to do a couple times a day.

Next, I went to see my ENT doctor. This is the doctor/surgeon that would do the surgery on my neck if it were necessary. While in the examining room, we all viewed my scans from last Friday together. She put the most recent scan next to the scan from July and showed us the difference between the two scans. The changes that she pointed out were remarkable. Not only had my lymph nodes gotten significantly smaller but the shape of my tongue had also become more symetrical. In the earlier scans, there was a subtle abnormality at the base where the tumor was which can only be noticed by a trained eye. At this point the doctor looked at me and said that she predicts that when I have my PET scan in January, it will come back negative for cancer and that surgery will NOT be necessary. That is news that brings tears to my eyes. The treatment was very effective. This being said does not mean that I won't have the operation. The team of doctors will decide together whether or not they feel I should have it. Next week the team will meet to review my scans and discuss the next step.  They won't make any final decision until after the PET scan. Again, the team consists of the ENT, the oncologist and the radiologist.

My last appointment for the day was with my oncologist. This doctor was the one who regulated the chemotherapy and other medications that I needed for pain management. After being examined, we were able to once again see my scans and the dramatic differences from the previous scans. The oncologist confirmed what the ENT said and thinks that I probably will not need the surgery. Even though the lymph node is still visible in the scan, the radiation is still actively working to kill the tissue. Even four weeks after the last treatment, the radiation is still having an effect. This explains why I'm still feeling run down.

I left the University of Chicago feeling pretty optimistic. I also felt very thankful for my doctors, their abilities and knowledge. I'm still not completely out of the woods, but I'm feeling pretty good about the future and my health.