Hey guys...it's been a while since I was on and looked and it brought a smile reading some of your responses. I have been out of treatment for almost three months...I still am dealing with the mucus and a tickling cough that turns into a roar, then eyes water, nose runs, I get the toilet paper, blow, wipe, and wait for the next cough, which seems to be getting farther apart...which is a good thing.
Sometimes you wonder why certain things happen. I smoked but cancer was always going to hit the next door neighbor...not me. I just loved drinking a beer or two. So I go to the Oncologist and he tells me in front of my wife that my cancer, 86% of the time is caused by smoking and drinking. The smoking part didn't bother me...I had been quitting tomorrow for the past 15 years. The drinking....come on, I really did enjoy my beer and my buddies and the pool parties and picnics and well.....
So that part I'm being aggressive about...and I don't need to be but I just am.
My voice hasn't returned....I've got that froggy noise that comes out and over time I have manipulated it into sounding like talking...my family can understand me but strangers kind of scratch their heads. My wife and I were at a car dealer and walking in the showroom and I was talking to her and a young boy stopped us and asked me if I was trying to act like a pirate, and we laughed. I guess we all need to laugh at times.
I'm just rambling on and not really saying anything but there is one last thing to say and its the most important. I received so much comfort and understanding from all the other patients that I was going thru treatment with, and I get that same feeling here when I'm reading and writing. We all need to remember the nervousness, being scared, and not knowing procedures when we all started this mess, so its so important to reach out when someone new writes here. I'm very indebted to a number of people.
Take care. Mike Smith (aka the pirate)