6 Months Post Radiation and Chemo Treatments

I try to keep it positive here as a form of therapy for myself and perhaps others in some small way, so Okay I know I have been away again for an extremely long time. I was having a hard time coming up with something positive to write about for a bit. My apologies but besides the extreme heat wave which makes it exhausting to accomplish the simplest of outside chores, I have not been not feeling so great as mentioned in some of my previous post since Memorial Day weekend. We have also been very busy getting ready for our appraisal that was "completed" last week. Why the quotes? Because I would like you to insert sarcastic tone here, most incomplete, unproffessional appraisal I have ever seen. Might as well have been a drive by, and the comps are so incomparable to what we have here. Oh Well... That will be a topic for another post when I have more time, right now I am supposed to focus on my topic which is where I am at six months out from last cancer treatment.
As you may have read here on my blog I was diagnosed with stage IVb throat cancer last year, and as of April I had clean scans... no saliva, and a few funky tastebuds that couldn't tell poop from pomegranites lol, and problems with neck and muscles from radiation damage.
I want to mention again here as far as the taste buds, because this is something many cancer treatment patients go through, I feel your pain if you are experiencing this now. I had begun chewing a Stevia leaf most mornings as I watered the garden. I was surprised that other sweet sugary foods I had tried, including apples which I love, tasted like dirt, and worse, but the stevia tasted good. There are so few things that have tasted good, and it was a treat. Well, come to find out research has shown that stevia is actually good for your oral health. As a matter of fact in many countries it is listed as a mouthwash ingredient lol.  Anyway, yes it was nice to taste something good, so I got in the habit of chewing a little piece , you only need a tiny tiny piece while I was out there. The docs have been amazed at the good conditions in my mouth at last visit. Well Guess what? I ate an apple yesterday... AND IT WAS GOOD!!!! Hurray.
Lol seriously unless you lost your ability to taste and produce saliva like those who have gone through chemo or radiation, especially of the head and neck, you could never understand how difficult it makes eating.
I had posted a month or so ago that I really missed the flavor of apples. Well we picked our ripe apples the other day, and the granny smith's are delicious:)
hehehe it is sometimes the smallest of little things in life that can bring the greatest joy:)
A tiny newborn baby, a smile, a hug... and the taste of apples.
Have hope the taste buds will return :)