29th August

Pete's Points It's all very well to attend a speech therapist or pathologist as they are known over here but unless there is a very clear idea of exactly what is going on in the throat it is very difficult to prescribe treatment.

At my meeting with my therapist today we agreed that the best thing to do would be to have an ENT specialist look at what is going on in my throat and then on the basis of the information obtained look at options, risks and benefits.

There is a guess that has been made about why I suddenly managed to recover my voice for day and a half and this seems to involve some inflammation of tissues next to the immobile vocal chord that maneuvered it into a different position so that the vocal chord that was able to move was closer to it and so able to create normal sounds. As the inflammation ceased so the chords once again moved apart and voila no more clear speech again.

One of the possibilities that has been discussed with me might involve the injection of material next to the immobile chord such that it moves back into the parallel position again. While this would in all likelihood restore the voice it would have a major downside which is that when I was exerting myself with heavy exercise for example I would in all likelihood not be able to obtain sufficient oxygen and so would struggle for breath.

An interesting conundrum - so I want to breathe or would I prefer to talk. For someone who in the past has been accused of being able to talk underwater this is a whole new ball game.

There is no point in jumping the gun so let's just wait and see what the ENT specialist has to say on the subject. I have managed to get an appointment on September 5th which is really excellent going considering how full the schedules of these specialists are. So I expect that there will be an initial consultation followed by some more exhaustive examination and then consideration of options that arise from that.

I will of course keep people in touch with what is happening.

In the interim I have finally picked up a copy of my blood test and it seems that I am able to enter into the company of people again (albeit quietly) so for those who have wanted to have a coffee or "do lunch" now is the time to let me know when you are available and I will look at my extremely busy social calendar ;-) and make a time to meet.

Give me a call or alternately drop me an email.

While all of this is going on I can of course refer people to the HCCA web site and to the HCCA group on Yahoo where there is some activity about Cancer related issues happening. Not least of these concerns the pay parking at the various hospitals around here and of course another call to form a support group for people with Oesophageal Cancer and their carers.