The magic pill

This week has been rough.  The burn on my face has completely healed, which is something to be happy about, but this sore in my mouth is killing me.  I have been surviving off of protein drinks, but having a hard time keeping up my calorie intake.  I'm slowly losing my belly that I gained in the first three weeks of treatment, so that can't be a bad thing.

I woke up Monday morning, and decided to reach out to my friend, Nancy, at the Minocqua Marshfield Clinic.  I was hoping to have her look at the sore in my mouth and prescribe a magic pill that would permanently eliminate the pain.  

While I was waiting for Nancy's office to call, Dr. Schreiber's office called and said they had received a request for an appointment for me.  You may recall that Dr. Schreiber is the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist that performed the crazy biopsy surgery through my left nostril.  I assumed that Nancy's office called Dr. Schreiber's office, so I made an appointment.

As it turns out, Nancy's office called later, which was embarrassing.

I was excited to see Dr. Schreiber.  If anyone knew what to do about a radiation induced sore in the mouth, it would be him.  He works closely with the Head and Neck Cancer Oncology team.  The appointment was Wednesday at his office in Marshfield, WI - a two hour and twenty minute drive from Minocqua.

I arrived at his office on time, and was brought into an exam room without much delay.  He took a quick look at the sore in my throat and commented that it looked very sore.  From there, he checked out my left ear, suctioned out a whole lot of ugly stuff, and proceeded to my nose and sinus areas.  The radiation has caused my left nostril area to get impacted with heavy mucus, so he spent some time cleaning it out - more ugly stuff.  He went up there with his scope to get a good look at what was going on.  Knowing I like to see this kind of stuff, he video taped his excursion up my nose.  I was able to see the areas that are enflamed by the radiation, compared to the healthy tissue.

With all of this said and done, I asked Dr. Schreiber about the sore throat.  He said, "It's only been twelve days since the last treatment.  Those protons are still doing their work.  Give it a couple more weeks and it will heal on it's own."

What?  No magic pill to make this pain go away?  I don't know if I can survive another couple of weeks on a liquid diet.  My saving grace is the Lidocaine solution that Dr. Akthar prescribed.  I put a squirt of it in my mouth and it numbs the pain for about four minutes - just long enough to chug down a liquid meal.

Normally, I would eat anything, but there are a few things that I would rather not eat, given the choice.  Being on an all liquid diet for the last three weeks has changed my outlook on food.  For example, Al's Pizza in Warrenville makes a tasty, but very greasy, pepperoni pizza.  You can practically change the oil in your car with the amount of grease the comes off of one large thin crust pizza.  Normally, I wouldn't eat it, although Kathie and the girls absolutely love it.  Right now, I would seriously drive six hours to get one if I could only chew, swallow, and taste it.

In the pantry are several boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Hamburger Helper, and cans of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni - things that Quinn & Joe might eat, but I would turn down due to better choices in the frig.  Right now, I would love nothing more than to devour a can or two, if I could only enjoy it.

So, the bottom line is this; I need to gut it out for a couple more weeks.  My energy level is still pretty low.  I'm getting up and doing things that need to be done around the house.  There have been several "Joe sightings" around town as I make trips to Ace Hardware in my truck.  I can't wait to get back to work, just not yet.

Thank you all for your messages, your thoughts, and your prayers.  I'll keep you posted if anything changes.