Dr. Gross

Today we went to OHSU to see Dr. Gross (ENT). He said Curt looked good (and "well done" on the left side of his face). He looked in Curt's mouth and saw the sores on his tongue and how "raw" his mouth looked. It is getting very difficult for Curt to eat now. Chewing hurts and is a real chore. He is drinking supplements (like Ensure and Boost) to help maintain his weight (he weighed about 159 lbs.) It will take a few weeks after the radiation for his mouth to heal. His bite will always be off since part of the jaw is missing. It will take quite a while before the "scarring" is done and he can see how the bite will actually be. Curt mentioned that his left shoulder has been bothering him and hurts when he raises that arm when shooting baskets or lifting something. This could be caused by the operation and the removal of so many lymph nodes. We are supposed to find a physical therapist who specializes in neck surgeries in Corvallis and Dr. Gross will write a presciption for Curt to see that person. Curt will work with the therapist to try to strengthen those shoulder muscles. Dr. Gross noticed his left lower eye lid was "drooping" so that the eye does not close well. The eye has been bothering Curt - at times it waters a lot (a sign of dryness). We put a drop in it twice a day to try to help. Dr. Gross wanted Dr. Wax (reconstruction) to look at it, but he was not around. They might have to do another "tuck" to raise the lower lid. So Curt is going to see both Dr. Gross and Dr. Wax in 6 weeks (March 3). In about 3 months they will probably do another PET scan of his body. They need to wait for him to "cool off" (I guess the radiation keeps working for a while after the treatments) before doing this. Anyway Curt is counting down until his last treatment this Friday!
Curt has lost some energy from the radiation but has continued to play tennis - more doubles now than singles. He usually takes a nap in the afternoon. The past weekend he noticed the most loss of energy. The radiation probably was most responsible for this, but some may be attributed to his mainly non-chew diet - soft foods and liquid supplements. Today was a long day - radiation at 8:20 AM and then he drove to Portland. Angie fixed lunch for us and we got to see Maddie and Vega. On the way home we did some shopping and didn't get home until after 6:30. No nap today. We got to see the sun today too!

Joan and Curt