Mike's Treatment Diary

July 8th Over the last three weeks I appear to have levelled off in recovery. I don't have any pain, I'm chewing and eating OK and my taste is mostly back ( not for Cadburys Dairy Milk though, sadly). I do though have a very dry throat and some associated odd tasting saliva. During the day this is manageable with plenty of fluids but o ernight my mouth dries out and I'm awake three or four times drinking water, which has the knock on effect of a full bladder and visiting the loo each time.  I'm still feeling tired most afternoons, not helped by the rubbish sleep I suppose. I'm starting to fixate on 10th August which is my scan date, I just need to know if its gone or not. 

June 17th  13:30 Not much to report, for the last few weeks I've been steadily improving. My taste has pretty much returned for normal food, milk chocolate unfortunately still doesn't taste quite right. I've seen the Oncologist at the Princess Alexandra in Harlow and am dur to meet again mid-July then have scans early August. I still have a sore under my tongue which produces unpleasant tasting saliva although this is not overpowering the taste of food as it did during radiotherapy. I'm also not tiring as easily, which is nice. Looking forward to working on cars again. The X1/9 is pretty much OK now, the Seicento starts on the button and I need to get Luke to wake up a bit earlier so we can continue driving lessons. The Abarth has a scraping noise from the OSF wheel and the brake discs have a bit of a lip so I've bought new Brembo discs and pads to swap out. At the same time I'll renew the front top shock absorber bushes.

Saturday 2nd June 20:00 Progress continues, my taste has almost returned in full. I still have issues with the taste of Dairy Milk chocolate but otherwise I'm eating the same meals as Julie and Emily (and Luke when he's back from Uni). Today we went out for the morning to a local village scarecrow trail, with a stop for a pub lunch on the way back.  It was great being out in the sunshine but now I'm knackered, which is a pattern most days. Do stuff in the morning, doze on the sofa in the afternoon. I also have more discomfort in my throat in the evenings which on the whole isn't going away. I needed to use antacid tablets for the last few days too as I was getting a bit of reflux. On Tuesday next week I'm off to the local NHS Trust ENT department as I've been discharged from the UCLH/North Middlesex for now. My next PET scan is 10th August when hopefully they'll know if I'm clear.

Tuesday 23rd May 14:15 All being well this should be my last visit to the North Middlesex for a while. I've got a review with my oncologist which should result in me being discharged back to my local trust. Stuff is actually beginning to taste as it should, I'm still struggling with chocolate - that seems to taste like a spoonful of cocoa powder. I had a couple of boiled eggs at dinner time which were exactly like boiled eggs. Swallowing is now pretty painless, the only part of my mouth that is still sore is the underneath of my tongue on the right hand side near the back. This is on the side that the lesion was on so I'm assuming got the most concentrated x-rays during radiotherapy.

Friday 23rd May 09:00   Finally, a cup of tea that tastes like tea, unlike the cup that Arthur Dent had made for him by the Nutrimatics Drinks Dispenser of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation* aboard the Heart of Gold which produced a liquid "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea". (RIP Douglas Adams, taken on 11th May 2001 far too soon). My taste appears to be slowly returning, I woke up this morning with much less pain so the incremental improvements continue.  Still worn out by early afternoon, but as I continue to eat more normally I should get over that. * The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation company motto is " Share and Enjoy ." This is widely adaptable, from synthesised drinks to the company of a robot, or "Your plastic pal who's fun to be with", as their robots are described as by the aforementioned Marketing Department. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  describes the Marketing Department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporat...

16th May 22:00 Had a phone appointment today with my oncologist, speech therapist and dietician. I've stabilised my weight although overall I've lost about 2 stone. I'm doing as they expect, I still have taste issues but day by day I'm seeing incremental improvements in the pain I'm getting. I've noticed that in the mornings I'm able to swallow without much pain at all, this deteriorates during the day as I get tired but I'm also supposed to be removing the morphine from my pain management regime.

Wednesday 10th May 08:00 I went back to the North Mid yesterday to see the oncologist, the speech therapist and the dietician. I'm doing OK, I still need to eat more. I won't get another PET scan until three months after treatment and I'm not to expect a full recovery at least six months in, may take a year depending on the individual.  I am back to eating what I was in about week 4 of treatment, I do still need to use the supplementary shakes until I can properly chew and eat normally though.