Yep, without a doubt I've been remiss of late in regards to this blog, so time to make amends.
When water doesn't cut it any more.
A while back I talked about how this summer was causing me more issues than normal with regards my dry throat. I can report than the cocktail of remedies are still struggling to deliver a silver bullet with regards to relief. It seems to be a twist that I'm just going to have to adjust to.
Dental Dilemmas
Over the last six months or so, I've been troubled by some dental issues. On one occasion I broke part of one of my front teeth (bad luck coupled with very old filling), and on two other occasions I've had rather severe toothache, with the latest incident still in play.
Prior to my cancer, my teeth caused little trouble, but now it seems the oral healing challenges brought about by the radiotherapy are coming into play a bit more and quite frankly it concerns me a little.
The current toothache took hold Friday night and affected the right side of my mouth which is the side I've come to rely on for eating since my treatment, so presented an additional problem. Despite popping Nurofen to try and stem the pain, it wasn't working and come last night it was so debilitating we had to contact our dentist to try and seek relief. A sprint to the pharmacy and a telephoned prescription to them saw me walking out with antibiotics and voltaren. Today I feel a lot better, no doubt helped by the first decent nights sleep in 3 days and the 2nd dose of the drugs. I have an appointment with the dentist this afternoon to try and find out what the underlying issue is, but I'm starting to think we may have to put some sort of contingency plan into effect.
Is The Left Side of my Mouth Coming Back
Since my treatment finished, it has been nigh on impossible to eat using the left side of my mouth because the saliva production is virtually non-existent on that side. In the past I've mentioned a possible slight return of the saliva, but it has never been comfortable to eat on that side as it has always been too dry.
Well, with the aforementioned toothache over the weekend, I was forced to recall the left side to service so to speak and while it was by no means ideal, it at least performed at a rudimentary level sufficient to enable me to eat. I must admit I was limited to soft foods anyway, so the real test will be with normal food. And I'm going to give it a go to see what happens. Will let you know the outcome.
A Treatment Perspective
I injured my ankle in November last year and since then my physical activity has been substantially curtailed. I've had x-rays, physio and recently an MRI on it to try and find a solution, but it seems that may still be some time off.
What it does however bring to light is this interesting tidbit:
-It has been 5 months since I injured my ankle, and it is still awaiting resolution.
- It took just 4 months from diagnosis to end of treatment to deal to my cancer.Go figure.
Clinic Appointment
Today was my clinic appointment and I'm happy to report I got another tick on my report card.
They gave me a hearing test and the results were unchanged from the previous one, so there has been no subsequent loss. They also tested my ears for nerve health, etc and it seems they are also normal.
So, we're now at the 4 years since diagnosis mark, and the next clinic visit will be in nine months time. The 5 year anniversary of the completion of treatment (August 2015) is the next big milestone as that effectively represents the medical definition of my being cured. Can't wait.
