RT5 and Controle

(control spelled the dutch way)

So last one of the week and nothing to report...no breakdowns this time...less yapping and more zapping.

The control interview was equally uneventful, but thats all to be expected, the 1st week is not likely to produce any major side effects (or super powers) so now I get the weekend to chill. Drs Oie did show me some CT scans and outlines of the areas they are irradiating..Only one of my saliva glands is going to be in direct line so that will make some of the symptoms associated with dormant saliva glands much less severe....but of course it won't prevent them totally...so I still some issues to look forward to.

So lets have a recap of my status so far.

Physically I still have swelling in the area of the surgery, inside my mouth is pretty much all healed and happy but I can't really chew on the quite tender "new" gum area that has formed over the removed jaw section.

I have reasonable but still quite limited gape, I can fit 2 fingers in comfortably now but my doughnut in 1, days are over...I have been doing my stretching exercises quite regularly, pushing my mouth apart with my finger and thumb, but its only gained me a few mm. but not to worry I am sure it will improve.
My tongue is about 95% working, there is a slight paralysis on the right side and a very slight numbness but generally its working..I just have to accept sticking my tongue out at someone is something I need to grow out of...it might come back to normal eventually.

Outside my mouth is sightly more complex...the most noticeable thing for others is the fact my bottom lip is still paralysed on the right side...it affects my speech a little but it seems people can understand me more than I think...I do have an unfortunate tendency to spit a little when saying certain words so I'm trying to be careful not to spray anyone when I use a lot of P words.

Pain levels are right down now, I still get severe twinges around the surgical site and scar but no where near as often. 1 or 2 an hour instead of 20 or more, I've stopped taking painkillers and with RT in progress cut back on my alcohol intake which was quite helpful as a mild painkiller.

No feeling in my right earlobe which is an odd sensation and parts of my cheek and under he jaw are still numb...this makes shaving very odd, but since I've been advised to not shave so much while having RT thats something I can live with.

Overall the bone swelling on the jaw is going down but I am still clearly a little lop sided, also my neck/shoulder muscles have wasted a little on the right side, but I do think that the weakness there is much better and I am going to be less worried about favouring my right shoulder to let that build up again.

The neck scar itches, a lot..but the tissue between the scar and jawline does seem to finally be softening and I'm slightly more aware of feeling there.

I do tire a little too easily but my overall fitness has been steadily improving since I become more active following the op, this is expected to dip again during RT but at the moment I feel pretty good so long as you don't ask me to walk miles on end or cycle at speed.

And finally on the physical side, I am eating fine...small issues of things that are a little too big to fit notwithstanding, I'm not having any problems. I have avoided hard crusty foods for obvious reasons but anything else is falling victim to my perfectly normal appetite.

Emotionally, I'm trying very hard to stay upbeat and positive..but I have to admit I'm emotionally very compromised, anything which upsets or angers me is at a tipping point where the slightest thing will generate strong emotional feelings I can't control.
So I cry for seemingly no reasons and I am very impatient easily losing my temper....not my usual self at all. This is partly post surgical, partly stress...but I am doing my best to deal with things and for the most part, people around me are incredibly supportive and patient. The temper is easier to control with a deep pause for breath than the spontaneous crying though.

And thats it so far really....it'll be interesting to compare how I am feeling next week when they expect the side effects to start kicking in.