July has come and gone, not a lot of Dr stuff this month. Met with ENT, said it looks good and on schedule for full recovery. Met with Kidney Dr and had ultrasound, no bad news to date. I am taking time to get Ellen back to see Drs. so we can get her health back on schedule. I'm down to 230, blood pressure lower, still no sense of taste, mouth always dry, and neuropathy in finger tips and feet bottoms. All should be better within 1-2 years, if it gets better. August is final scans and meet with Chemo Dr to get clean bill of health hopefully. Trying to stay active and moving. as I'm still weak and tire easily. Can eat soft food, no spicy foods, Spagettos is too spicy. No pizza, to hard and spicy, no donuts or bread or chip, too dry and tastes bad. Ensure is still my friend, but not cheap. Fiscally we are losing ground, but still have reserves without tapping into important money. Have met people recently who didn't recognize me due to weight loss. down 12+ sizes from start of treatment.

Do to hitting my head on the street when falling over on stationary motorcycle(91 DR 650S), over last weekend and wife and neighbor getting me to check with my Dr., no problem with head but due to constant cold feeling, Dr. requested blood test for thyroid. next day got call from Dr saying to start thyroid medicine due to low level, but on plus side my creatinine levels which have been 3.0 2 weeks before are down to 2.3, still to high, but getting better. Chemo Dr is sending me to a Kidney Dr to check it out. Most likely due to Chemo Treatment, which is why they hydrated me so much during treatment and after. When my blood pressure started going high(160-190 over 90-110), Chemo sent me to my Dr and he requested I back off Hydration every day. Blood pressure came down to as low as 108 over 60 and my Dr backed down on my blood pressure meds. NowI don't get Hydration and more, BP is ok< and still losing weight. Side effect of low thyroid levels is weight gain. Not likely with as little as I eat.

Treatment has been over for over a month, still losing weight cause can't eat much, but its ok, down 100 lbs. Find my attitude is at times poor cause I can't do much, feel tired all the time, feel like eating, but nothing tastes good(still no sense of taste) and mouth is always dry(salivary glands not working) that when I due eat, My mouth sucks all the moisture out of the food and by the time it reaches the back of my throat the food is so dry it hurts to swallow and often plugs up. The neuropathy in my hands and feet from Chemo causes loss of feeling to intense cold and pain at times. If I'm lucky, it will go away within 2 years, but means using my hands by sense of touch is gone. Ought to see me try to wash and fit my contacts in my eyes. Plus side with the weight loss, I'm down to a 44 waist from a 56 waist and had to toss all my pants. found in my closet some 46's I may be able to wear. My shoes are all too large now also, and most of my shirts are way to big. I'm going to try and back fit some of the time sensitive data I've not recorder, pay attention to the dates until I figure out how to get in crono order.

Finished second week of Chemo, challenge for the week was finding out a copay for Chemo more than we expected, had to sit down and figure out possible finical options if needed. As was after the first of the year, paycheck was also lower as reset for deductions while on sick time. Caused a little scare for both of us. Copay also needed for five extra days after Chemo for blood cell improvement meds. Really glad to be rid of the 24hr/day for the five days chemo fanny pak, referred to as my "albatross"(read Old Man and the Sea). Hope recovery week goes well.

Had visit with Chemo Dr, followed by visit to radiation Dr in the afternoon, and the Chemo Dr after reviewing the latest PET/CT and MRI scan from last week was ecstatic. I failed to get 50% better as expected, I was over 75% better, so much so she conferred with the Rad Dr. before my appt. with the news and helped confirm my new plan. Starting the 22 of Feb, I'll start a 6 week program of Radiation daily and Chemo once every 2 weeks for the six weeks, then a time to recover. I'm feeling much better now in the second week of recovery after the last/third cycle of Chemo. I opted for one shot to improve my white blood cell recovery vs the five shots due to the extra cost. The side effect was to knock me on my a-- for the weekend, and the following week just couldn't get into anything, slept a lot, accomplished nothing. Thursday I get the "MASK" made/fitted for Rad treatment. They stretch a plastic mesh over my upper chest and head and will look like fishnet stockings, hope to get a picture. I'm also down 20 pounds and expected to lose another 30 during the next phase. That's all for now.

Week 3, or week 2 of recovery is over, so is Christmas. We had a small Christmas due to me not being well, both sons made it home at least for dinner. I'm feeling well, met with Chemo Dr. and she was very happy with the progress for the first week of Chemo. Gland in left jaw where the tumor could be felt, can not be felt anymore, I took very little pain meds, and no anti-nausa meds. Next week, Jan 4 starts the next cycle, wearing the chem pak 24 hours a day, sitting in their office taking on 3 liters of chemicals for 4-6 hours a day for a week. At least I'm better prepared this time.

Finished first week of chemo treatment, part of a 9 week 3 cycle process. Idea is to shrink growth with chemo to minimize area that will get radiation later, less damage to me. Weight went from 335 to 345 over night, and Wednesday back down as chemicals started leaving body. By Friday down to 320. Sense of taste gone over first night, slowly recovering, but soon to be taken away. Sever aches and pains in knee and ankle joints, normal for most stressed joints.