Page 17

Recovery:

The fatigue which kept me asleep for most of each twenty four hour period began to dissipate a few days after the therapy stopped. I still felt weak and drowsy, but at least I could sit up in bed and watch television or hold a conversation. It was now a matter of managing the pain, and other side effects, as the irradiated areas recovered.

  The external skin burns on my face and neck were the most visible indication of damage, but were also the first to begin healing. Applying lavish quantities of moisturising cream each day from the start of treatment, and resisting the temptation to remove any scabs prematurely, certainly helped speed recovery. In what I thought was a remarkably short time, my skin restored itself to a soft, scar free state. As a bonus, it was several months before I needed to shave again. Internally, however, recovery was a much slower process.

  My ability to swallow did not return for several weeks and, to begin with, was very limited. Swallowing is something a healthy person does without thinking but is in fact a complex action, as I soon appreciated. My tongue had taken the brunt of the radiotherapy and was very painful and difficult to move around. A speech therapist proved very helpful in improving my technique and I could soon manage to take sips of  liquid.