September 8, 2011 – Progress But Another Setback….Sigh…!

It’s always something isn’t it? I didn’t write for a week because there just wasn’t much to say. I’m still feeling ok because of eating a good balanced diet but each meal continues to be a chore combined with some torture. However, my throat seems to be about 20 to 30% better overall with evenings being the worst time for pain. Yet, there’s progress I guess.

Then, of course, I was brushing and flossing my teeth the other day and couldn’t help but notice some dark spots around a veneer and a crown that I don’t remember seeing before. Tooth decay is a problem for those that have limited saliva and even though I was flossing, brushing and giving myself fluoride treatments daily, it apparently wasn’t enough. So I’m seeing my dentist on Monday to assess the damage. I sure as hell don’t want to lose my teeth but I may need to brush etc. literally immediately after I consume anything. That’s rather limiting in itself. One more burden to bear.

My energy level has improved somewhat but I still have these “crash periods” where I just want to sleep. Today it happened about 10:30 AM and I slept until 1PM. Some days I don’t nap at all.  One day it was 5 PM. I still sleep well at night. I’m told the fatigue problem is a result of the cancer treatment and could last awhile. That’s one reason I enjoy staying at home. I don’t want to be somewhere committed for a couple hours only to want to fall asleep on the spot.

Yesterday morning I did play 18 holes of golf for the first time since April. I survived without incident (didn’t fall asleep or anything). I also drank a Boost half way through the round, and drank a Dr. Pepper (didn’t really hurt too much) and even ate some soup at the pro-shop restaurant when I was done with golf. It was my first outside food since April. It was a good day.

Finally, I listened to our old 3 minute audio sampler from the band I was in. For readers who may never have heard us here is my website with the audio sampler that will start automatically: http://bbagby.webs.com and I admit listening to it made me very sad. I really enjoyed playing in a band and because of throat damage from radiation I may never sing again. I can still play guitar but have yet to generate the same level of interest. It’s a real loss for me. I’m going to try to play anyway just to see if my interest comes back.

Overall life isn’t quite as bad now as it was. Better days to come?