Update --

Just a short post to bring you up to date. I am feeling fine and doing better. My saliva is better and things taste better, just not right. I have no real complaints. My throat is still a little raw and I'm sure the dry air doesn't help.

I had a CT Scan on Monday and met with the radiation oncologist, Dr. Ying, on Tuesday. The report was good, for the most part. She examined my neck, inside and out, and said it looked good. The raw throat is to be expected....it takes a long time to heal. The tingling in my legs is a not-so-common side effect of the neck radiation, but should be temporary. The scan showed nothing in my lungs, which is a common place for neck cancers to go. There was one node on the left side of my neck that was slightly enlarged. That's the part I really didn't want to hear. Everything else looked good.

The Scan cannot tell us why the node is enlarged, only that it is. We have three choices the way I understand it. We can wait and watch
, we can do a biopsy, or we can remove it. Dr. Ying is taking all the information to what they call the "Tumor Board" on Friday and then she is supposed to have a recommendation for me. My guess is that they will say 'wait and watch'.
I think I'm okay with that. The node is so small, I'm not confident a biopsy attempt would reach the right spot. Besides, a year ago when I first had a biopsy to find out what the original lump was, it came back inconclusive. And before surgery, I think a Pet Scan is in order to see if this lump is 'hot'. That's the term they use when they find an area of rapidly growing cells, indicative of cancer. The Pet Scan that I had three months ago did not show a hot spot with this node.

I did experience some allergy symptoms last week in Las Vegas and that could be what's causing the node enlargement. I hope that's not wishful thinking.

Regardless, I meet with the surgical oncologist is six weeks (a routine visit) and will have another CT Scan the end of June.

Next: Docs recommendation