Friday, September 17, 2010

Fatigue

John reports that he is doing well, but he remains tired most of the time. His voice is back (but not his beard and taste) but he is getting around more. Aaron sent me some photos that will give you an idea of the new John.

The first is one of John in the mesh mask that they used to hold his head still for the radiation treatment.

This one is a look at the results of his weight loss routine. All that butter and cream doesn’t seem to have had a major effect!

Here’s a closeup of his radiation-imposed beard style.

Monday, September 6, 2010

On the Mend

It was great to HEAR John on the phone this evening. His voice is returning and he reports that he can speak without pain. He sounded like a long-time smoker, however, and complained of not having much energy, but is no longer on medication and found that the nausea disappeared about a week ago. Even his bowel movements are getting more regular.

Now he’s waiting for his taste to return. He can still smell the lovely flavours of Patty’s special soups, he says, but the eating is flavourless. “I’m full of envy and jealousy now!” he reports, “All this lovely food – even the fresh blueberry crumble didn’t taste like anything!”

The crumble was served up at his visit to Gibson’s on Sunday. He had enough energy for that trip – and was even able to take the 2-hr wait for the ferry in his stride. He was not up to a Cindy Lauper concert on Friday, however, so headed off to visit his Mum instead.

He has appointments for blood work on September 26th and October 6th – and the dentist has already given him the assurance that his teeth look good.

So now it’s only recuperation on the menu. He still has 250 ml of “swish and swallow” to keep the thrush at bay, but beyond that it is up to his body to mend. He figures that just about the time he starts to get his beard back, he will begin tasting food again. Until that time, it’s eating by the clock rather than the flavour.