Hi Angie,
As regards the RT. It all depends on the primary trust. Some give 20 sessions (fractions) at a higher dose and some give 33 fractions at a lower dose. Which one is more effective - hard to say - But I gather the side effects are slightly easier to cope with when you have the 33 sessions.
I had 33 sessions and found that hard enough!!

cheers Tony K

Thanks for that Tony, is that something to do with finance? and what about those you hear of having 60 sessions?

Hi! All,

Well I have to tell you I am feeling a little ancious(?) at present as I have to go back to the Hospital to have my Throat straightened and something removed from in it and then Enlarged as it has gone and shrunk, bent and got something in there that won't allow food and drink to pass successfully, so they are going to shove something down my throat(I will be a sleep during this???????)and fix it I hope.
The Doc pointed out that there is a chance that if they tear the asoficuss(?) then they will be having to get my fees from my Estate (good luck).
Anyway I am going in this coming Friday and will be in overnight and then allowed to go back home with MORE drugs.

The reason for this operation is a result of my RT treatment and may have to be repeated 2 times a year(Great), So keep this in mind when discussing the fun of RT.
Catch yah later Guys
LOVE Trev

Will I ever be able to uncross my bits? will be thinking of you on Friday.

well Pete is still going strong. just went under the scope last week. did the doc ever give me an extra close exam. he was alarmed because my weight was down 3 lbs. don't know what his reaction would have been if it was a week earlier because i was down 5 lbs. my day starts out with a weight check every morning. if my weight is off a bit i eat more that day. if it is up, i eat less. i do plan to take some more weight off, but i do it maybe a pound at a time. receptionist was surprised when i told her i would need another exam in 2 months... "you meant 3 months, didn't you?" like i mentioned early doc was really concerned about my weight dropping so he is going to keep a close eye on me.

my taste buds continue to change. maybe a dish she has cooked for 30 years suddenly doesn't taste good anymore. i tell her not to cook it for me again. she takes it personal.

i am lucky for the most part on my salivary glands. my mouth is not dry all the time. however, i can't eat Cheez-its, pretzels because without enough moisture in my mouth they just get gooey.

now the big problem i am faced with is the loss of my voice when happens on a frequent basis. i never know how my my voice is going to come out until i try it. after too much talking it will be a whisper. can be quite embarassing at times.

speech theraphy didn't help much. really disappointed in my Phd therapist. at my last appointment she abruptly told me that my voice would never improve. really floored me.

during my exam by my radiation doc he told me it was because of the swelling (edema) in my voice box (upper part) of my vocal cords. said the alternative would have been surgery and just taken out the voice box. told me that he could give me some steriods to maybe reduce the swelling, but there are a lot of side effects. without asking any questions i just told him "no thank you"...... but sometime i will look into it to see what the side effects are.

it's kind of crazy since several weeks after my radiation treatments were finished my voice was back to normal, but unknowingly to me the radiation was still working. doc tells me can make changes for 6 months to years.

now one thing that i did get from the speech therapist was the method for reducing the swelling in my neck. basically just under my chin, i press down with my thumb and forefinger on either side of my neck and then just stroke down. i then push my chin out and stroke down on the adam apple area. what this does is push the fluid down which takes the swollen look away. i was amazed at how well this works for me. mentioned it to the doc last week and he said yeah it pushes the fluids down. sure wish he had mentioned that do me before.

well considering everything, all is well with me. had surgery on my hand for a trigger finger problem (luckily my left) and going through PT. still involved in karate and am looking forward to the football games which will start next month. high school and university of texas. our high school for the 2d year in a row placed 2nd in the station championship game. longhorns slipped a bit this past year.

i still buy my 88 cent salisbury steak TV dinners at wal-mart which i occasionally eat every now and then. they still taste good to me and reminds me lucky i was to have discovered them when when i was going through radiation.

sorry for all the rambling, but always like to give others some insight to obstacles which i have come across and conquered. this leads me to thinking about my thoughts when the speech therapist told me my voice was not going to change. i had some crazy thoughts and after thinking about it for awhile, i thought, you know i am really lucky.... my voice might be mesed up, but at least i am not mute.......

so this leads me up to my thoughts that i am sure many of you hope that you don't have problems with your voice like what i have experienced while others less fortunate than i am only wish they could have a messed up voice like mine since they have none.

it is really amazing to me how we are able to cope with our varying problems going through everything we have to deal with in this special club which we are all a member of.

wish everyone well...

Dear Pete,

Do you have a tracheostomy by any chance? Do let me know.
Lots of love,
Ananth

No, i only had radiation. radiation has caused the swelling and scarring of the vocal cords. my tumor had been on the vocal cords.

steriod tablets. been on prednisone 10mg tablets for 7 days. 2 each morning except days 4 and 5 when i forgot and only took 1 tablet each day. i have not had any side effects so far and my voice is not bad early in the a.m. course with a lot of talking or later in the day it still gives out, but several hours later it comes back somewhat. the purpose of the prednisone is to reduce the swelling of my vocal cords caused by the radiation which i completed last september.