Nick has had some  appointments with doctors this month that have brought about new developments. At an appointment with his ENT doctor, Dr. H, Nick mentioned that he still has some trouble with swallowing. That resulted in a swallowing test at Norwalk Hospital.   Nick was asked to swallow a variety of beverages, and then to chew  and swallow a variety of foods, with technicians watching the path of each item on an ex-ray machine.  The conclusion is that  his tongue and throat are in a weakened condition as a result of the radiation treatments. The recommendation is that he should work with a speech therapist who can give him exercises to strengthen his throat muscles, and with a physical therapist who might be able to help with the swelling in his neck. Dr. H. is also requesting a check-up with a gastroenterologist to make sure all is well when Nick’s food reaches his stomach.

Nick has had glaucoma for years, the treatment of which is several drops applied to the eyes daily. However, eventually the drops lose their effectiveness. A friend’s eye doctor recommended a local doctor, who in turn recommended a glaucoma specialist. The glaucoma specialist, Dr. N, recommended that Nick have  a tube  the size of a grain of rice inserted into each eye to drain the fluid that causes eye pressure. If this is successful, he will no longer need eye drops.

He had the surgery on his left eye this week, and a follow-up check-up yesterday.  His eye is healing well. If his left eye continues to recover without complications, the same surgery will be scheduled for his right eye in June.  With his eyes taken care of, he can proceed with the speech therapist, the physical therapist, and the gastroenterologist.

As for me, my eye exam went well, and I don’t even need to have stronger lenses in my glasses. I saw my oncologist last week, and the great news is that I’m now in my 26th year of being cancer free. With the news of celebrities Rita Wilson and Sandra Lee having double mastectomies, I encourage everyone to do breast checks and to have all recommended check-ups. If I hadn’t followed up on my doctor’s recommendation for a mammogram in 1989, and the cancers had metastasized (three different  cancers were identified  in my biopsy), I could have lost the past 26 years .