Matt

I am 2 years out from head and neck cancer treatment including a full course of external beam radiation. All my follow-ups are good, and I am pretty sure that I am in full remission, and will stay there. I am also very active, and participate in a lot of sports at present.

Over the last few months, I have been experiencing numbness in my finger tips and recently have started to get more pain in my shoulder and arm, and more numbness in my arm (no, it is not a heart attack). I am pretty sure I am getting some nerve impingement in the C6/C7 region of my spine, primarily on the same side as where the radiation was concentrated.

I am wondering if any any of you with similar treatment have experienced similar issues? Now, I also rock climb, mountain bike, play golf, and have had been in some car wrecks over the last 30 years, so there is a lot of potential for other injuries or accumulated trauma.

And yes, I am planning on seeing a specialist to get an MRI or other imaging test to see if there is a disc issue or something else (waiting on an appointment call back, it is not at the level where I need to go in for an ER visit). But until I get in to see the doc, I am looking for potential issue and answers.

I am 2 years out from treatment for head and neck cancer. I did three rounds of induction chemotherapy with Cisplantin, Taxotere and 5FU. This was followed by a full course of radiation and Erbitux. I also took Neulasta during chemo to boost my immune system. I have long term neuropathy in my feet (and tinnitus in one ear) that I know is a result of the treatment, but lately I have been having problems with my hands and elbow.

Post treatment, I have become very active, so I am doing a lot of exercise (rock climbing is where this issue comes up), and I know that I am susceptible to tendonitis because I have had it in the past. But I have a constant low grade pain in my elbow and very recently have been experiencing weakening in the right arm. I also have been feeling a little deadening in the feelings in my fingertips.

Does anyone have experience with increased neuropathy this far out of treatment? I am wondering if it is something I need to work around like with my feet, or if it is a new issue, maybe due to nerve or disk damage in my neck due to the radiation treatment. I asked my oncologist and he thought it was probably tendonitis, but I am not so sure. I see my radiation oncologist later in the month, so I will ask him about it then, but I am wondering if I should go in to see a orthopedist if this is unrelated to the treatment.

I have a Jack Russel mix. He is a little chubby, with short legs, and he can very easily pull out of his current harness. He just backs up and pop, he slips out. Does anyone know of an escape proof harness that will keep him secure. Usually on walks it is not problem, but I can't secure him if I need to run inside, or if I want to relax on a patio and have a bite, he pops out. Last time he ran into the restaurant and made a victory lap before I cornered him.

Here is a picture of him, so you get an idea of his proportions.:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocshooter/4379941653/...

What about Pau for Boozer and CJ Watson. Especially from the Bulls fans, would you pull this off?

The Lakers get quality back for Pau plus a point guard. The money works, saving the Lakers $2M off the salary cap, but they can toss in the value of the trade exception so the Bulls are not eating the extra $ for nothing.

Personally, I like Pau, but this keeps Andrew available if the Magic get desperate, though straight up Drew for Howard seems unlikely, and there are very few other pieces the Lakers can include in a trade, since they are taking on an extra $4M in salary to make the deal, especially if the Magic want to package Hopward with Turkoglu. If the Lakers get CJ, they can include Blake or Luke in the deal to make the money come out closer, or include Fish with the expectation that he is waived or cut since he wants to be in a city with good treatment options for his daughter.

I am going through my own treatment, and early on I looked for books that might help me. I found a lot of books by women aimed at women, but nothing for guys unless you want to read about Lance.

So I started writing something. I don't know if it will be a blog, a book, something I post somewhere, or just something I never finish. But I would like to know from other guys how they dealt with the various issues that came up during treatment,