Dear Family and Friends,

I cannot thank you all enough for your love and support.  The encouragement has helped me through.

It has been four months since my surgery on June 21, 2019 and it has been 7 weeks since the end of my radiation and chemo.  I have started going back and forth to Houston (MD Anderson) for follow-up appointments and therapy for lymphedema and swallowing and speech.  My plan is to keep this up for the next few months.
 

I have not started on the speech therapy yet because I will be getting a prosthesis for my palate and that is supposed to help with speaking. I will also be getting a bridge with teeth to fill in where mine were taken out.   I will begin working on speech in a few weeks after the appliances are made.   

       
For now, I am working on swallowing and it is quite difficult.  I have to practice a lot and it takes awhile and is hard to do.  The therapist promises it will get easier with practice so I am putting in the time.

            
I am getting out and about, driving and running errands.  I went to the bank and Nordstrom today.  And I’ve been playing Mahjong with my mom’s group.  (I still never get enough jokers.)   

     
Luckily, everyone seems to be able to understand me, so I’m happy about that.  I am doing better than expected, even though my speech is still impaired and I am not happy with the way I sound right now.  I am confident that I will improve with time and once I start my speech therapy.

      
Last week, in  Houston, I saw all my doctors and therapists.  Everyone says that I am ahead of the curve and doing much better than most.  I am progressing well, but I still need patience because it will take up to a year for all the swelling to go down and for other necessary healing to take place. 

       
Last week I had a CT Scan and it came out clear with no sign of disease.  That was a relief and great news!  I am required to have a CT Scan every three months for the next two years and then every six months for the following three years.  With the aggressive route that I took, the cancer should not come back.  So we hope for the best!

     
I will be forever grateful for the support and love of family and friends.  It has been incredible!!  Mark is the most amazing husband and caregiver.  He goes to all my appointments with me (and there are many), he flies around the country with me to see the doctors, he accompanies me on my daily walks, he researches the best help for me and he is consistently positive, loving and encouraging.  Jeff, Samantha, Justin and Zoe have been a constant source of happiness and love and support.  They visit often and keep in touch daily.  I get to see my adorable two year old grandson, Dylan, many times per week and he is a lot of fun.  (Happily, he can understand me!)  My mom, my sister, my father-in-law, and Mark’s sister visit regularly and motivate me.

     
In addition, there are other relatives and friends who reach out and make my day!!   It’s hard to express my gratitude fully for this, but thank you all.

      
This will be my final CaringBridge entry.  I will be continuing on with my life, which now consists of a lot of exercises and routines, but I’ll be slowly adding in the other activities I love to do. I anticipate a great deal of improvement over the next few months and I look forward to seeing everyone at a fun activity in the near future.    

         
Thank you for following along and we can be in touch by email. 

With love and gratitude,

Hanna