EDG Procedure Number Two

Its been a while since I’ve posted an entry. Since I had my first EDG procedure (this is the abbreviated name for the throat stretching), my life became much busier than before. I began driving into work, logging about 20 hours a week. Additionally, I started speech therapy twice a week. All of these new activities resulted in more fatigue that I like to admit. As many of you know, I’ve been very active my entire life running nearly every day. So, its hard for me to come to grips with the fact that I tire by doing activities I don’t consider exercise.

Speech therapy has been challenging. Returning my tongue to normal movement is going to take effort and time. Back in January, I was not able to protrude my tongue beyond my lips. Now, I can extend it almost an inch. However, the tip of the tongue still does not move well to the right. Over the past two weeks, I’ve been able to advance the tip from moving as far as the midpoint to now about ¼ inch past the midline. It is a bizarre feeling to tell a muscle in your body to do something and not have it respond. My speech therapist encourages me to be patient. I continue to do these exercises daily so I will be able to use my tongue to speak clearly, move food in my mouth and play my trumpet with accuracy.

On Friday, I had my second EDG procedure. My esophagus, which was opened from 1 mm to 10 mm in the initial procedure, had closed to about 3.5 mm. While this was expected, I was surprised as I did not notice much difference in my ability to swallow during the past two weeks. Because the opening was initially so small, it may have narrowed significantly within a day of the first procedure. The GI doctor was able to open my esophagus to 11 mm this time. The goal is 18-20 mm.

I’m beginning to accept the fact I may have my feeding tube for quite some time. Over the past few weeks, I’ve replaced one of my tube feedings each day with a meal by mouth. Smoothies, creamy soups and jell-o have been my foods of choice. They say pastas will be in my diet by summertime. I will return in about three weeks for another EDG procedure.

I also had a visit to my ENT physician since my last post. It was a very positive visit, and he was pleased with my progress. Based on his examination of the lump in my lymph node, he decided taking a second sample to check for cancer will not be necessary. The lump is continuing to shrink. The next test to validate the cancer is gone will be a full body PET scan the first week of May. I meet with my oncologist May 15 to learn the results.

Thank you again for all of your support. Your prayers, Bible verses, letters, emails and blog posts encourage me when I’m frustrated or tired. You are helping my recovery. Every single communication I receive brings joy to my heart. Thank you for your friendship.