As I noted in my blog about my May 6 PET scan and doctors visits, Dr. Gourin decided that she wanted to see me every two months and wanted me to have another PET scan in five months. Since I was interested in consolidating travel from Costa Rica where I live to Baltimore as much as possible, because of the high cost, I ended up scheduling my subsequent PET scan and visits with doctors for the same day, August 28. My PET scan that day showed no abnormal positron acquisition, and Drs. Gourin and Quon seemed very positive about the results nine and a half months post-treatment. Dr. Marur wasn't available that day because she was out of the country. Drs. Gourin and Quon were very pleased with the recovery of the tissue that had been irradiated in my mouth, throat, and nasopharanx; Dr. Quon stated that it wasn't evident that I had even undergone radiation therapy. My lymph nodule high on the left side of my neck near the angle of my jaw (high-cervical lymph nodule) has remained palpable but seemingly unchanged post-treatment, and both doctors are quite confident that it is a "burned-out" nodule, as Dr. Quon referred to it on May 6. Both doctors recommended that I return to Johns Hopkins for another PET scan and for them to examine me in December, which would be one year post-treatment. That visit is now scheduled for December 4. I also saw speech and swallowing therapist Donna Tippett, who strongly recommended that I continue the swallowing exercises that she had given me during my treatment and that I have been continuing, although not as frequently as she recommends. I shared with her that I don't really experience problems swallowing, with the exception of needing to drink some liquid to help swallow dry, crumbly foods, such as bread.
I continue to experience dry mouth, but it appears that my saliva glands are slowly recovering, because keeping a water bottle handy 100% of the time isn't as essential as formerly. Nevertheless, I try not to leave home without it. I still awake too frequently during the night with a very dry mouth, no doubt because my mouth opens as I sleep and my throat dries out as I breathe. Also, if I engage in fairly active exercise, which I do three times/week playing badminton outside with friends, my throat dries out quickly if I'm breathing through my mouth. I purchased some packs of Biotene Dry Mouth gum while in the States for my last follow-up visit, and that helps greatly while exercising vigorously. I've learned that the effect of the gum last longer if I resist the temptation to take sips of water, apparently because the water washes the enzymes that are in the gum down my throat. The gum contains enzymes that supposedly help the damaged salivary glands produce saliva.
I enjoyed being able to spend time with our daughter Raquel and see the new apartment that she shares with her fiance Alex in Alexandria, VA. She drove me to Baltimore for my scan and doctors visits at Hopikins, and accompanied me for my visit with Dr. Quon. I greatly welcomed her company, because for some reason I was nervous about what the PET scan would find. Raquel and I went on a short sail one evening on the Chesapeake Bay skipjack Minnie V. on the Potomac River out of Alexandria, owned by the Potomac Riverboat Company. I then flew to Chicago to see our son Tim and daughter-in-law Bret and their new apartment in Skokie IL. We had a fun afternoon at the last day of the Chicago Jazz Festival in Grant Park. They're expecting our first grandson, Oliver, whom I hope to meet on the way back to Costa Rica from my Dec. 4 visit to Hopkins. I'm hoping that Raquel will be able to accompany me to Chicago to meet her first nephew.
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