Good News and Fun Times

The day started early for me as I had an appointment in Seattle at 8:30am. I left the house around 6:30am and picked up Pam. Our day turned out to be much better than we had even planned.

I kept saying I was going to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, but actually I saw Dr. Merati who is in Otolarngology-Head/Neck Surgery. He had a great sense of humor and picked up on mine right away. I will definitely go back to his office when I need to. This is what I learned today about my "hairball" hoarse throat. The doc had a consult with me and explained that the reason doctors get nervous when a patient stays hoarse for a long period of time, is because the nerve to your vocal cords runs through your lung before it heads back up to your throat. So if someone is hoarse, it could mean they have something wrong with their lungs and it is damaging the nerves to the vocal cords. Bingo! We already know I have that problem. He took me into a special room, put a tube and camera down my nose (after he numbed the back of my throat) and took a look around. Good news. No tumors, nothing suspicious growing in my throat. My vocal cords are inflamed/swollen and loose. Apparently, they are suppose to be tight and thin. He suspects that from all the coughing I've done this past year,I have damaged them. I told him I could live with a deep/raspy voice and I'm not a public speaker so it's not a problem for me. I'll be seeing him again in December. I'm going to have a CT scan done the end of this month to make sure everything is still going well inside the lungs.

I'm approaching the 16th month survival mark. Before you know it...I'll be saying 2 years...then I'll be saying I'm 50 years old. I can't wait!

I felt bad that I wasn't home today. I guess Rick didn't feel very well so he came home from work early to rest. Jake was here with him, but I still felt a guilty for being gone all day. He's feeling better tonight, thank goodness. I anticipated that chemo would be a little tougher than usual for him this time since he just had radiation and it's a shock to his system again since he hasn't had any chemo in a month.

After my doctor's appointment and Pam's final radiation treatment, we went to University Village and spent the afternoon shopping and visiting. We were given tickets from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to see Mel Brooks "Young Frankenstein" production at the Paramount Theatre tonight. It was one of the best plays Pam and I have ever seen together. We laughed from the moment it started, until the moment it was over. The two leads were "George the Pharmacist" from Desperate Housewives, and Karen from Will and Grace. We didn't even know this until we arrived. If you get a chance to see it....you won't be sorry. I promise.

I'd better get to bed. It's back to work for another busy day tomorrow.

Love you more than all the laughs we heard tonight at the play.

Dream Big, Dor