Check Up - All Clear

This will be a relatively short post, as there are several more others that I’m thinking about / in the process of writing. As I hinted in the last post, February was quite a month, including a visit to Paris and London. More on that to come, hopefully later this week.

On Monday, I went back to Northwestern Memorial for a three month check up, seeing both Dr. Mittal and Sue Abbinanti (medical oncology PA). The follow up plan for the first year is to see the doctors every 3 months, so this was the first visit as part of that schedule. Things went well and as expected. Dr. Mittal did put a scope up my nose to make sure everything was clear (it was partly a teaching moment for a resident radiation oncologist). I also had some blood tests, which confirmed that EBV is not detected. Some of the other blood test results (e.g. WBC and absolute neutrophils) are improving slowly, but still on the low end or below the normal range. Fortunately, this hasn’t impacted my day-to-day health, as so far I’ve avoided getting sick this winter.

Overall, the recovery has been progressing nicely. The good news is that while the ringing in my ears hasn’t gone away completely, it seems less of an issue than before. I don’t notice it as much - only when it’s quiet. The lymphedema issues also seem to be less of a concern. The swelling in my neck has gotten better and less noticeable. I had mentioned the Flexitouch device in my last post. Unfortunately, despite both the SLP and the product specialist’s belief that it’d be covered by insurance, my insurer declined to approve the device.

My energy and taste have both approaching normal levels. Energy-wise, I’m feeling pretty good. In Europe, I was able to walk around the cities (15-20k steps on many days, including stairs) without any issues. Sleep is normal and I’m not waking up due to any dry mouth or pain issues. My eating and taste are also making good strides. I’ve been fortunate in that my taste buds haven’t really been dulled throughout the treatment, and I can still enjoy flavors. I’m continuing to be more tolerant of spice, so I’m hoping that this continues. I’d love to be able to return to “Hot” and “Super Spicy” foods, not just medium-level spice. I’m not quite there yet. Fortunately, I’m able to enjoy wine. I was able to return to Birch Road and enjoy an evening sampling wines. This progress comes and goes, though, as some days are better than others with respect to wine. The doctors say that I may get improvement in my taste and saliva for 2 years, so there’s still time for continued progress. I feel like my general taste is at 95% but my spice tolerance is only at about 60-70% from where it started.

My weight has been very stable. In fact, I came back from the Europe trip weighing exactly the same as I did before I left. To me, that means it was a lost opportunity to have indulged in all the treats on offer. Still, we ate pretty well. Dr. Mittal reminded me that I should use enjoy my current state, as there is no need for me to put back any more weight!

That’s about it for the health update. Look for more travel and food adventures shortly.