Recovering from Treatment: Slowly but Surely

Yes, things have been improving....very slowly. I made it to work on Monday and Tuesday and could've gone Friday, but "worked from home" instead. Weds & thurs were mostly eaten by doctor appts and then being a bit sick with an ear infection. My blood work is still bad -- I'm very low on Red, White, Hemoglobin and Platelets....but the doc said I didn't quite need a transfusion. But instead of not coming back for 2 months, I have to go back in a month. I can still feel pain in my throat but the pain is not overwhelming -- it gets me when I smile, yawn, or swallow hard. I also get burning if I eat or drink anything acidic, but I can tell that this is getting less as I will occasionally drink Sprite (watered down) and I can manage stronger and stronger mixtures. My taste is starting to return. So, from "no taste at all" to some things taste wrong and some actually taste right! (Honey, butter, malt -- thanks Uncle John for recommending that) The saliva situation is improving and I'm definitely getting more of an impression each time I meet with the Radiation Oncologist or the Speech/Swallowing Therapist that this is probably not expected to fully return -- but that I'm expected to adapt to a "new normal". As such, I've been forcing myself to try to eat "solid food". Last week I managed to eat split pea soup where I had to actually chew peas before swallowing. What I learned is that my issue is not just saliva -- but also my stomach / digestion are simply out of practice with solid food and I can only stomach small amounts and will have to build back up. Today, I managed a small serving mac-n-cheese at lunchtime and half a cheeseburger (Steak and Shake, single with cheese) at dinnertime. These are tough calories to plow through, each of those "solid foods" took about a half an hour to get down and each was good for less than 200 calories. I can slam down a 200 calorie shake in 30 seconds -- but I have to do the work and push through. Otherwise, I still can't hear out of my left ear...the theory here is the eustacian tube is either clogged with this super thick saliva I'm producing...or it may be collapsed due to the radiation. At any rate, I had an infection there due to trapped fluid. I've been on Augmentin since Weds and I think the infection is gone, but I still can't hear. This is one of those "wait and see" situation where there's no definitive answer as to how to long to wait before seeking other options. It is unbelievable annoying to simply lose hearing on one side and worse, none of my family can manage to adjust. They get mad at me for "ignoring them" when I simply never heard them approach or speak. So, we'll all adjust but this is quite an annoyance. Finally, we're scheduling the follow-on PET scan for 3rd week in May with follow-up visits to the docs the last week of May to hopefully get an "all clear" read-out. Fingers crossed. Certainly, I can feel that the large tumor under my jaw on the left side (secondary tumor) is not there. That area is extremely tender now as the surrounding tissue that was heavily damaged by the Radiation now attempts to heal / rebuild. I can also feel what I can only describe as a "hole" in the middle of my throat at the base of my tongue where the primary tumor was. So, I know the treatment was successful to some extent. The million dollar question is did we get it all in those two spots and did it spread (and grow) before / during the treatment...? That's what I expect we'll learn. I honestly don't know what to expect with that.