Some light at the end of the ORN tunnel?

I had an appointment this week with the oral surgeon who did the two debridements and showed him the trophy shard that popped out of my jaw on Christmas day.  He said it was one of the largest he'd ever seen, and that it was probably the main source of the pain and swelling I've experienced for well over a year.  As always happens when one of the shards comes out, that area feels a lot better and the swelling has gone way down.

The best news from him was that he sees good evidence that the area is starting to heal, even if ever so slowly.  Now that the trophy shard is out, the healing should accelerate--so I don't have to see him for 6 months.  What should happen next is that the new gum tissue will get thicker and stronger and build back up.  It won't ever build up to be even with the adjacent areas, but the size of the crater in my jawline will get smaller and smaller as the gum tissue grows back.

The doctor told me that I have about 50% of my jaw bone left in that spot, but he thinks that the remaining  bone is very strong.  There will always be the risk of a fracture to that area, but as long as I don't chew any ice cubes, open beer bottles with my teeth, walk into any doors, or get punched by Terry, I should be OK.

So, three years after it started, this could be the light at the end of the ORN tunnel.  And, what a long, strange tunnel it's been.  At one point I was sure that I was heading towards a jaw replacement, so this a huge relief.

Coming up next will be my annual scan, in April.  If that is clean, I will be four years in remission, with one year left before I would be declared cured of this cancer. 

Of course, all of this good news comes with the realization that I could still have more side effects and/or get a different kind of cancer down the road--but that is on my mind less and less as each day goes by.  I'm thankful for where I am, for how much of my life I've gotten back, and for all the love and support and Good Vibes that Terry and I have received from family, friends and people we don't even know.  Terry did a little investigative work and learned that this blog has been viewed more than 30,000 times since it started in February of 2009.  Probably 10,000 of those views were by Randy Varley--but that still leaves a pretty large number left.

I will continue to post periodically, so don't stay away too long after this good news.  We are monitoring Winnie's progress (her cancer was confirmed with biopsy--no word yet about her treatment plan), and learned just the other day that the brother of one of Terry's best friends has the same cancer I did and will start his treatments soon.  Never a day off in Cancer World, even on days when some good news happens.

Mike