Tomorrow is the Day!!

Tomorrow is the day! My last dive hopefully for a long long time! While I will miss two hours of relaxing me time each day, it will be nice to get back to a normal routine. I’m most looking forward to doing my make up in front of our bathroom mirror rather than sitting my car 😂.

So just a quick update. I saw my periodontist yesterday and I am healing, but very slowly. So my job for the next five weeks is to load my body with all the protein and other nutrients to help it heal. I will see her at the end of July so see how things are going. I’m just thankful she didn’t recommend additional hyperbaric treatment. So after tomorrow I have a whole month off from appointments. Then in August, along with the dental visits, I have my three year scans to look forward to. I just have to keep reminding myself that the wedding is right around the corner so i can stress about that rather than my health!

Thank you all again for supporting me over the last few crazy months!

I hope I don’t have to update you for a while :)!

Quick update

Alrighty everyone, here’s the story on life this week!

My extraction on Monday went well over all, the only complication was that my tooth did not want to come out. So it took a lot more effort and time on her part and uncomfortable positions on my part to make it happen. Aside from the Novocain injections and my jaw struggling with staying open, my pain was minimal throughout and that evening after. That was my first time getting Novocain since all this began and it was the weirdest pain I have ever had. Because it was on the side where my tumor was, it went through my skin flap and through the tissue that has the most nerve damage. The small needle felt like it went through the bottom of my chin, down my neck and out the back of my head depending on which direction she went. Not fun. I could also hear the sounds of my tooth being separated from my jaw bone, which is actually awesome and unexpected because of how much jaw bone loss I had from radiation. The fact that the bone held onto the one problem tooth I had for dear life means that there is a lot of hope for the rest of my teeth to stay stable and healthy for as long as I can keep them that way. She was also very happy with my blood flow in the tooth socket so I guess all those hyperbaric treatments were worth it! I was sent home with a list of instructions for the next few days, no food or water that night except with meds, Pain meds every 4 hours, ice ice ice, soft food only for a few days, and my least favorite, no brushing or rinsing my mouth for the first 24 hours.

Tuesday I was pretty bruised and sore, but stayed on top of my meds and wasn’t too interested in food. Thankfully mom brought me some soups and things at lunch to try and that helped. Wednesday I woke up a bit worse, probably because I slept through the night and didn’t take any meds in the night, both good and bad! So it took a while in the morning to get going, bring the pain down, and finally eat some. Owen and I ventured out to the store later that night and trying to find foods I could eat and was interested in proved so difficult. It was a deja vu moment back to when I was just starting to eat again. I remember wandering around stores and all the food I wanted looked so desirable but there were piles of reasons why I couldn’t have them yet. Back then it felt like there was no end in sight so at least this time around is much more temporary!

Thursday and Friday I woke up in a bit less pain, but more swollen which worries me a bit just because it’s on the same side where I had lymphedema from radiation, so it make take a little more time and effort on my part to make sure it goes back down, another part of my past I’m not too eager to return to. On the upside, I was able to resume my hyperbaric treatment on Thursday! I will have ten total treatments to promote healing and hopefully be finished up by the end of the month. I will also follow up with my periodontist on the 25th to make sure everything is healing okay.

Owen and I were able to celebrate five years together on Thursday with some ice cream and feelings of excitement for a wedding less than 4 months away!!

Please keep all your fingers crossed for quicker healing and no complications!

Devin

Sent from my iPhone

This is a quick one!

This is a quick one! 

My tooth extraction was moved from the end of the month to tomorrow evening! As long as they have all the info they need, I am scheduled for 6:30 Monday night. Please send up all your powerful prayers and positive thoughts that all goes well and I’m not too miserable for poor Owen and mom to handle! I will most likely have a follow up after a few days and then resume hyperbaric treatment when my periodontist clears me. With any luck that will be sooner rather than later and I will heal fast! To those of you who have had teeth pulled, feel free to send along food ideas and any other bits of info that may be helpful!

Thank you all!

Devin

Happy June!

Happy June!

A month ago my mind couldn’t even picture this day. I expected my 20 hyperbaric treatments to take forever and for my schedule to be exhausting. Truthfully, I kind of already miss it :). I think that’s more a testament to the wonderful staff at St. Luke’s wound center who made the process seamless, comfortable and even fun!

Thankfully, aside from a rude parking attendant who refused to believe I was a patient for a month, it has all gone as planned so far. I had my last dive of the first round this morning. Basically, for the last month I have gotten up, gone to the hospital for an 8am dive, changed into my 100% cotton “luxury” hospital gown, had my ears, lungs and vitals checked, and then enjoyed 110 minutes of me time in a clear tube. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make myself sleep, I think I was just too nervous about making sure my ears would adjust appropriately. So it was a good chance to watch a boat load of movies I hadn’t seen in a long while. I would usually get out of the chamber around 1015, change, and then head off to work for the day. Initially the days were long, but the adjustment happened faster than I expected and it quickly just became part of the routine. I don’t feel hugely different, but I can say that my energy levels are a bit better, and I actually made it through a handful of days at work without additional pain meds so that’s win win for me! Now I have about three weeks off from the chamber, will have my tooth extracted on June 25th, and will hopefully resume hyperbaric the following day as long as I am not bleeding. I will need ten more treatments to promote the best possible healing, along with a diet high in protein which I’m already very used to. There is a chance that my periodontist will have a cancellation and I will start this all sooner, but I don’t want to get my hopes up.

Other than hyperbaric, I have had a few appointments with good outcomes. My thyroid continues to be an issue so I am following up with an endocrinologist this month to figure out how to correct it before it becomes a real issue. Fingers crossed for a good plan! I also saw a new physical medicine doctor at Penn since my last one left in March. I absolutely love her. She is very open to my concerns about being on certain medications and believes that we can get me on a regimen that will not only be safe for me long term, but will also allow Owen and I to safely try to have children down the road. I know a lot of people don’t like to air their fertility issues, but I think it’s a vital part of where we are headed in this journey. It would be silly for me to share every other detail and not that when, for someone my age, there are complications that average head and neck cancer survivors don’t have to address. It seems to be a constant battle to remind my physicians that I have a lot of life left to live and there are things that need to happen to make it the one we want. I have a feeling self advocacy will be something I have to keep in mind forever.

Aside from the medical issues, life is good :)! We are settling into our new home well and the wedding plans are moving along faster now the closer the big day comes!

Thank you all so much for your constant care and support. And a special shout out to my Good Shepherd family for never ceasing to surprise me right when I need it the most and always reminding me that they are there to help me stay #Devinstrong even when I’m tired and don’t feel like being that person anymore.

I love you all and appreciate all the positive thoughts and prayers you keep sending my way!

Devin