Dunzo

I kind of doubt anyone checks this page anymore, but if anyone does, let me assure you I'm not dead. Quite the opposite. In fact I'm finished with cancer, my treatments wrapped up two weeks ago.

The reason for the lack of update has been that this last month has been by far the most difficult of the process, something I wasn't remotely expecting. Radiation is terrible, and the side effects left me without the will to do much of anything except try to sleep and count down the hours till my next codeine dose. Not a very interesting lifestyle.

[Side note: Watching England-Portugal as I write this. Did you see Wayne Rooney just stomp on that guy's junk? In cleats!? Gaaaaaaaaaah.]

I'm better now, back to work full time and beginning to eat normally again, although my taste buds are still a mess. You'd think having your taste buds destroyed would mean you just wouldn't taste. Not so. In my case I can taste things, but they taste awful. Sweet things taste horribly bitter....plain water, for some reason, tastes like saltwater. Ironically, the one thing that tastes normal is beer. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

Compounding the taste problems are overall drymouth issues, since my right salivary gland(s) has been fused shut. The others are supposed to start kicking into overdrive, but I guess that takes some time. At the moment it means swallowing can be a challenge.

The Drs don't really have a good idea of how long this is going to last, but it sounds like it could be a while. One said four weeks, another said as long as three months before I feel 100% normal again. Bah.

The no-food diet is still working wonders though, I'm down about 25 lbs overall. Sadly, I think much of that is muscle, since I generally feel like a weak little kitten. At least my suits are fitting better.

Most of you have hopefully heard about the cancer-free fiesta and fundraiser Jenny, Chris and Aris have organized for the 15th, we certainly hope to see most of you there. If you haven't gotten the details or have any questions please shoot me an email.

And, on a last note, mom is apoplectic over Blogger's failure to recognize her comments. I don't get it either, but just FYI, sometimes the "0 Comments" indicator is inaccurate.