It's not every day that you get a glimpse of the future and even when yo do there is Heisenberg's uncertainty principle which means you can never be certain of anything (until they place the lottery check in your hand).
On Tuesday I had my swallowing test with a 3D X-Rated movie, no,no; a 3D X-Ray movie of my pathetic attempts to swallow various fluids and foods laced with Barium (to make them opaque to X-Rays). The good news is that there was no aspiration but even for small sips, I was able to swallow but it took me as many as six attempts to get down the whole amount. The speech pathologist conducting the test wanted to analyze the data more but she felt that radiation damage to the Vagus nerve was responsible.
She also attended today's meeting with the radiation oncologist and she confirmed that Vagus damage was the most likely cause. This means that I will require long term tube feeding so a stomach tube was recommended to eliminate the thing dangling from my nose. The stomach tube will require surgery and it will mean no more restaurants. With some practice I may be able to swallow small quantities of some foods so I can enjoy the flavour.
Basically he said that they had run out of options since I did not respond to the radioactive iodine and surgery and radiation had both been implemented extensively. The main focus will now be on interventions that improve my quality of life in the time remaining. This came as a surprise to me because I had always assumed I was immortal. It just means that I am an ordinary human being with a limited life span just like everyone else. It has been a great journey so far and I will do my best to ensure that continues day-by-day until it stops.
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