Hi everyone - I haven't been around BYC for awhile. Saw your request JJ! Here's the update: Paul (hubby) has struggled a lot with the treatments for his throat cancer.
Radiation & chemo at the same time. Of all things radiation was the worst for him, he had a very high dose for the tumor. His trach really bothers him & he's in a lot of pain from it. His feeding tube is fine & the easiest thing to work with.
From lack of moving around on his own & not being able to swallow, speak or chew his mouth muscles "froze" as did most of his body. we finally got help from therapists to work with him and he's made some improvements. We have a hospital bed in the family room for him & a wheelchair to sit in. And of course the walker to get around. He wears Depends at night but is OK on his own during the day to use the bathroom. I have to wash & dress him everyday - get his food cans ready for him & his meds, clean & make his bed and the LAUNDRY....which is every day. It's our new normal. The stress got me big time in the beginning, now I'm used to it, or can handle it better.
He had a PET scan 2 wks ago and that showed his throat clear but there was a mass near his right clavicle. We don't know what that is, but think it may be an injury he got when he fell. He has fallen a few times
, so we're hoping that's what it is. Doc also said it could be an infection - so he's on antibiotics. So we had the CT scan done for the mass and we see the Oncologist for that diagnosis on the 8th. He is slightly improving. It's still a "wait & see" situation. The good news is that the ENT Doc has gotten him on the 3rd and final smallest size trach, so we are slowly getting him closer to weaning him off that thing. He can't wait.
The speech therapist is working with him to get the mouth muscles moving and getting him trained to swallow again, so when the trach is removed he will be able to work his mouth in a normal way and get to swallowing food again. The GI tube will stay for awhile so he can get nourishment. But we have to see what this mass is to finally see where we are going with this.
If it wasn't for my interest in tribal drumming & the drum circles & didgeridoo and sound healing with crystal bowls & gong - I don't know where I would be right now. So things kind of fell into place for me in that department.
It keeps me calm & I can better handle things. I still have my 5 chickens and may get some baby chicks sometime this year.
I really don't look forward to the 2 1/2 hour drive but he's the best so it is worth it and it is a bit of a miracle that way up here I found him (long story but trust me, it actually is a real miracle). 
