UPDATE

Sorry I have not written in such a long time, I have been on the mend. To give you a quick update since my last treatment : My neck has completely healed, and now has suprisingly soft skin. You really can't even tell i had any radiation done. The sore throat went away completely in about a week and I was eating normal foods after about a week and 1/2. I was off my strong pain medication after about 2 weeks completely. One weird thing happened, I got some kind of bacterial infection in my stomach for about a week and a 1/2 around Thanksgiving time. It really sucked because Diane and i were scheduled to goto Mexico for a visit about this time. I went to the doctor and he thought it was the flu, so he put me back on a liquid diet for a couple of days and gave me some medicine. That did not work, so he gave me an anti-biotic incase it was bacterial. Sure enough that had me feeling better in a day. Honestly, I got better the day before we were supposed to leave for Mexico. So i went to Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta Mexico. I have never been to Mexico, so I really wanted to see it, and the beach and warm weather of course. We stayed with my Dad and my Step-Mom, Mary in a nice 5 star resort right on the beach at Nuevo Vallarta. Had a wonderful time. Well back to the update : Voice was weak for a while after the last treatment, but i felt great and had plenty of energy. In all, I am pretty skinny now. When i stared the radiation I was 215 lbs. I put on a few lbs before the treatements because i new i was going to lose weight. My normal weight was between 195-200lbs. Well since i got that infection as well, i lost more weight and got down to 185 lbs. Right now I am 192 lbs and that is fine with me. Diane is pissed at me for getting skinny when she had to work out like crazy to stay that way. Anyway, the voice was not good in Mexico and i have had a constant problem with phlem. It is part of the healing process but it really gets in the way when you try to speak. I have also not been back to work yet. I am looking to return in January. Now the good news! I have had two doctor visits since my last treatment. The first was with my radiation doctor. She looked down my throat and said that it looks like the tumor is totally gone and no signs of cancer at this stage and everything is healing up quite well, yet is still very swollen. Lots of phlem, but that is to be expected. All in all a very good report! I then went to Mexico and just last week, exactly 1 month and 1 and 1/2 weeks after my last treatment i went and saw Dr Sharma, my surgical oncologist. He also looked down my throat and hooked that scope upto a monitor so that i could see what it all looks like. I have seen what it looked like before on the monitor and i could defiantely see the tumor months ago, this time no tumor at all. The left side looked as normal as the right side. No signs of cancer at all according to the doctor. still alot of phlem, you could see whenever i would swallow it would form, and then when i cough it goes away. Another great report. I will have to see these two doctors every month staggering between the two of them for probably 2 years and then not so often but upto 5 years. 5 years is the point where they say you are cured. The voice as of today had gotten much better. I have a lillte bit deeper voice right now but it is a good functional voice. I was able to communicate with the waitress the other night in a loud restaurant, that is something i have not been able to do for about a year. I am very happy right now and can't wait to get back to flying, i really miss it! Merry Christmas to everyone and thanks for your prayers and support.
Pictures to follow !
Chris