Outside of the periodic doctor’s visits and the testing I feel great and I’m able to do whatever I want, except enjoy eating the way I used to. I exercise several times a week and I’ve gained a lot of my weight back. I continue to attend the monthly support group meetings in an effort to help those that are in the position I was in 12-18 months ago and I really enjoy it.

My next scan is in 6 months so there will likely not be another post until then.

The next scan is set for early March which will be the more significant milestone since it marks one year since treatment was completed. Based on the statistics I’ve read that 80% of recurrences happen in the first year I think I’ll be able to relax a little bit at that point.

My weight it up to 195lbs. I’m doing well in most of the workouts that Laurie designs and I’m eating considerably well. There are still only 2 side effects that I’m dealing with and that is the neuropathy and the dry mouth. I’ve been attending the once a month SPOHNC support group meetings and learning some things while also trying to help out others in my position.

On a different note my Oncologist is retiring this month. I would like to thank him for his key role in participating to extend my life. Thanks Dr Moore and enjoy your retirement.

Now we just have to plan the “Cancer Free” party.  I’m guessing it will be some time in August, but we’ll see when time allows.

I see both doctors again in September, but the next scan is scheduled for November.  Then there will be another scan in the March time frame of 2010.  That will mark the one year anniversary of the completion of my treatment.  I’m told that 80% of everyone that recurs has it happen in the first year, so if I can make it through the next 2 scans clean then my odds are pretty good.

My weight is holding pretty steady and even climbing a shade.  I’m finally up to the 180lbs mark and exercising several times a week.  There are really only 3-4 side effects remaining and the worst of those are the neuropathy in my feet and the dry mouth from the damage to my salivary glands.  According to doctors both of these are supposed to subside at some point in the future, but they are not short term.  The other things are trivial like some slight difficulty swallowing and my inability to grow facial hair my neck.  The hair thing doesn’t bother me too much, but it is really bothering Laurie. 

The next report will probably be in either September or November.  God willing I’ll be passed this in no time.

The next step is to get the access port removed.  There won’t be any home remedies for this however.  It requires a minor surgical procedure, but shouldn’t take very long.  I’m going to call the doctor’s office and see what the hold up is on getting that scheduled tomorrow.  I get the feeling that it will really feel like the end of this treatment era to me, but we’ll see.

Getting to the topic of the post title I began a new era today by resuming my exercise plan.  I couldn’t hang with the rest of the crew for obvious reasons, but Laurie made me up a special little workout for me to do.  Overall I was pleased with my effort and results.  I managed to eek out 20 pull ups, 40 push ups and 60 air squats in 7 minutes.  It was broken up into 4 rounds, but those are the totals.  Going forward I’m not sure if Laurie will keep me on my own routine for a little while or just work me in with everyone else and scale it back for me, but since the exercise has begun I’m kind of excited about it.  I’m sure I’ll be back in good form by summer’s end and competing with everyone else.

So while it is not bad news, it is not really what we were hoping to hear.  Not really sure about having a cancer free party now, we may wait until the next scan.  Or we could have a “basically” normal party! ha ha!!

On Monday he is scheduled for a CT/PET scan to see if he is cancer free or not.  He will be able to remove the port he has used for chemo/IV fluids, etc, and the stomach tube if he is tumor free.  He is not sure if he will take the stomach tube out right away since it is useful and painless for getting calories.  He has found that he can drink Ensure so once the tube comes out, he can continue drinking that to add calories.

I will keep everyone posted next week with the results of the CT/PET scan.  Wish us luck!

Things are slowly turning around for Doug!   He has good and bad days, but the good days are now out numbering the bad days.  The last doctor visit was last Thursday and he started that day with a vomiting spell and felt bad most of the day.  We waited an hour and a half before seeing the doctor, which did not help his mood.  His weight dropped to 167# when they weighed him, which is 13# down from the last visit 2 weeks prior.  They believe he has a thrush infection in his throat, which may be contributing to the vomiting.  His thick stuff in the back of his throat is something you cannot digest.  The doctor said it is like having a hair ball, you cannot digest it, so you have to cough it up.  He starts coughing and cannot stop, which leads to the vomiting.  However, since last Thursday, he has not vomited, has increased his eating and his mood is getting better.  He is on a schedule of eating something (anything) every 2 hours and we are hoping this will put some pounds on him.  He still has pain in his mouth, but it is tolerable and he is able to eat real food now in between his canned food.  He still gets easily fatigued, and is still healing, but it does appear that things are getting better!!

Today, Doug got up, ate some donuts, packed a can of food and headed off to work!  He was in a good mood, and was feeling good today!  He is going to try to work half days “at work” and do the second half of his work at home.  Each day he getting closer to getting back to normal.  His hair is coming back in and I am looking forward to his beard growning back! he he!!

This is what Doug’s neck looks like after having 10 days to heal.  He has severe burns and they have all blistered up and are now drying out.  This is what the outside looks like, can you imagine what the inside looks like?  The next time you hear someone say that radiation is not so bad, think again.  The burns associated with the radiation can be very painful, and you can only see what is outside, not inside.

We have had a very difficult 10 days, he has a really hard time keeping anything down, whether he takes food by mouth or through his stomach tube.  Most everything comes back up, violently.  He is down to 173# now.  The docs think things will turn around slowly after the 2 week mark, so I am hopeful.  We have laid off the tube food and he is drinking Sprite and occasionally able to keep a Fudge pop down.

He started Ensure today instead of the usual “tube food” and so far. . . so good!