"Always something" has been my unwelcome mantra lately.   Here's an update on my port-a-cath removal and the latest news:

After two ultrasounds showed no infection and decreasing scar tissue at the port site, I finally heard the phrase "you're done" at the wound clinic.   Thank goodness.   The area is still red, but slowly healing. I appreciate not having a port (I'll get a new one eventually), but I feel bad that the nurses have a hard time finding a good vein for treatment.  It doesn't bother me -- lidocaine (similar to Novocain) is my friend.

After finishing at the wound clinic, it was time to make a decision about my dental work.  I've put it off mostly because of the cost but beyond that I wasn't happy with the two professional opinions I had received.  I heard a lot of "maybe", "might" and "it depends",  which made me doubt their experience with the dental side effects of chemo.

A month ago I noticed a rough spot on my gums, which turned out to be jaw necrosis.  A piece of bone had died, broken off and was making its way to the surface.   This is a very rare side effect of Zometa, the bone strengthener I received monthly for a year.  Dr. Kaplan was surprised and sad when I told him, because he's only seen this twice in his career and the first time was before the side effect was well understood.   Lucky me.

With this new development, I chose to go to one of the best oral surgeons in our area.  His fees are considerably higher than the other oral surgeons I saw, but as soon as I walked in the door, I knew I was in the right place.  The diagnostic equipment was impressive and Dr. Johnson quickly knew what he was looking at and how to proceed.  I didn't hear, "Maybe, I think" from him!   Once again, I've been blessed to find the right professional to take care of my needs.

He's concerned that a smaller piece of my upper jaw was affected earlier this year.   Its almost unheard on for that area to develop necrosis (again, lucky me). I'm not having symptoms and I'm managing to keep it clean thanks to using a water pik with prescription fluoride. Dr. Johnson is going to keep an eye on it, but for now we're going to let it go.

This week I"m going to have two lower teeth extracted and get a bone graft to repair some of the damage.  One interesting thing he'll do is take some blood, spin out the plasma and mix it with the bone graft material.   There's a high probability that I'll have difficulty healing and this should help.  

I'll probably be uncomfortable for a couple days, but hopefully the healing will go well and we'll decide the next step in 2-3 months.

The good news?  The dentist "prescribed" a few sips of red wine each night to help with blood flow to my jaw.  I can do that!

And finally...

We had a wonderful time at Cannon Beach, but I started feeling dizzy and nauseous on our last day.   This continued through the weekend, so I talked to Dr. Kaplan about it. After doing a couple of balance tests, he thinks it's most likely labryinthitis -- a swelling of the inner ear caused by bacteria or a virus.   There's been a significant increase in labryinthitis  in Washington and when I mentioned it to a friend in CA, she said her family has it, too.  Very odd.

To be safe, Dr. Kaplan sent me for a brain MRI (even less fun when you're dizzy).  The good news is, the scan was clean.  The bad news is, labryinthitis can take 2-6 weeks to clear up.  I'm already tired of feeling "car sick" all day, so the 2 week version sounds good to me.

I'm hoping there won't be any more medical/dental surprises this year.   I had a clean scan at the end of July, which is the most important thing, right?  I try to remember that as I get discouraged and feel sorry for myself over the continuing "post chemo" problems.   My usual pattern is to feel sorry for myself for a couple of days and then move on.  What else can I do?

In other news, I'm getting ready for the beginning of the school year and having all three kids in school full time. Its an exciting time, but also a time of transition and re-defining my role as a parent.   But, I can't think about that now.  Like Scarlett O'Hara, I'll think about it tomorrow.......

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