so what's been happening?

Well all I can really say is things have gone in two directions...
1. The tumour has macroscopically gone - YIPPEE!! which means I can't see it or feel it in my mouth anymore, the treatment does seem to be further advanced than expected which is good, but you have to complete the course to ensure you eradicate the cancer - I defo don't want this coming back!!

2. The side effects of the treatment are really kicking in now, saliva dried up more, taste has pretty much gone, mouth is becoming really sore and tight and the metallic taste is always there. I am about to start physio twice a week to keep the jawbone moving, also my neck feels very stressed.

The good news...my wife is now in South Africa with me prior to Orlanda starting work next week which is great, she arrives on Tuesday and starts work the following Monday. I realised that the family not coming down for Christmas has been an error and it is unbelieveable how much better I feel having Carol here. Lauren my eldest daughter is also coming down when Carol returns on the 18th January for 6 weeks, so will have both my elder kids here which will be awesome....

I have yet more "drugs" and potions to take, all of which work in certain ways and help a little.

Had a meet with the counsellor at the oncology centre this past week, which was pretty interesting, especially around how radiation therapy works with cancer which I didn't know; the basics are that the body actually likes cancer cells as it see's it as "new" growth, which is why the immune system doesn't attack it! The radiation treatment (I am on IMRT - don't know what it stands for but it is the latest technology) actually changes the DNA of the cancer cell so that the immune system see's it as a nasty and attacks it! This is why the body is tired and you feel exhausted, which the more the treatment goes on for I do feel the effects of it and feel constantly tired.

So I am now 15 days down on the treatment schedule, almost halfway, hopefully the side effects won't get to much worse, I fear they will and realise I will just have to keep focused and "take the pain". I am not really eating which is a problem that I need to rectify, but, it's very hard to look at food when you have such a disgusting taste in your mouth, so my weight is now down to 96.7kgs! Lightest I have been for a long time LOL!