Hi all;

Well, I'm more than 2/3 the way through the radiation. As a backgrounder, I
have a malignant paraganglioma in the jugular bulb, mastoid bone and part
of the skull. It was first diagnosed as glomus tympannicum, then glomus
jugulare as more imaging was (finally) done. The diagnosis of cancer was,
to put it mildly, a shock, since glomus jugulare is 97% non-cancerous.

So far, so good. During radiation, there is an intense taste of ozone,
though I'm told that can be different for everyone. I can also see actinic
flashes of white/blue light as the radiation beam brushes past the optic
nerves, though they've told me there is absolutely no danger to my vision
(Yes, I asked :) )

The first week, I got a little tired, three to four hours after the
radiation; Now I'm feeling a general lowering of energy levels, though it's
not like I'm exhausted. Went out yesterday and raked the lawn and cleaned
out my wife's garden as something life-affirming :) That and the dietician
tells me the more excersise I get, the lesser the side-effects will be.

Speaking of dietician: She's got me on a diet of soft foods, but full of
sugars, fats, creams, etc; She said anyone not going through this would
gain 100 lbs just looking at the recipe books :) :) :)

So far, so good. I drive 186km each way for treatment and I'm enjoying it.
I get to listen to CBC Radio One and CFRA for three hours a day which, for
a talk-radio junkie, is pretty darned cool.

The people in the oncology centre at the Ottawa General hospital are some
of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

One other thing: Several people in my village decided they were going to
make my family dinner for each day I'm in radiation. I can't even come up
with the words to describe how *nice* my community is. One thing that this
cancer experience has shown me is that I am a lucky, lucky man to be
surrounded by such good people. Oh yeah; The guys and gals in my fire hall
*rock* (They know why) :)