Started the regime again on Monday. I've been feeling really good since about Saturday.
Carol went to the hospital with me as we knew we would be meeting with the doctor after my radiation. Looks as though the treatment is progressing as expected. I have lost more weight than they wanted me to and I need to start to mouthwash regularly and start applying the 'special' cream to my neck area to avoid negative effects of the radiation.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Week 1 - By the Wayside
I just can't believe how good I am feeling this weekend. Food sounds good. (Tastes a little nasty) And I am not so tired.
Went to watch the Lugnuts last night. Today we drove to Ionia to visit the family.
I'm getting pumped for the 'draft' for my fantasy football team in a short time.
Didn't feel this way all the tiime though. Friday I was really lethargic and didn't want to do anything but rest. Food sounded, looked and tasted, well, not very appetizing. Saturday morning I still was feeling kind of down - but by mid-afternoon, I could tell that I was feeling better and stronger. But even at the ballpark - with all of its food vendors and smells and activities - the food really still smelled kind of 'nauseous'.
So that's the good news. Tomorrow I start radiation again - but I am thinking - I get three days off next weekend so there is a chance that I could feel great again for part of next weekend.
...and I will take all of that I can get!
Went to watch the Lugnuts last night. Today we drove to Ionia to visit the family.
I'm getting pumped for the 'draft' for my fantasy football team in a short time.
Didn't feel this way all the tiime though. Friday I was really lethargic and didn't want to do anything but rest. Food sounded, looked and tasted, well, not very appetizing. Saturday morning I still was feeling kind of down - but by mid-afternoon, I could tell that I was feeling better and stronger. But even at the ballpark - with all of its food vendors and smells and activities - the food really still smelled kind of 'nauseous'.
So that's the good news. Tomorrow I start radiation again - but I am thinking - I get three days off next weekend so there is a chance that I could feel great again for part of next weekend.
...and I will take all of that I can get!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Day 4...
It seems like we say we are going to a hockey game for the excitement and we really want some 'fist-a-cuffs' or we watch the car races because of the speed and we really want to see some 'smash-ups'.
Well - I have no 'fist-a-cuffs' or 'smash-ups' to report about myself.
I'm continuing with the radiation and feeling OK.
Yesterday I was extremely tired and when I got back home I pretty much laid around and snoozed for most of the rest of the day. Went to bed early. Didn't even feel like getting to the computer for this simple little update.
Today I feel 'sluggish'. I probably would have called in to work reporting I was sick. So I will probably have another day of taking it easy today.
Well - I have no 'fist-a-cuffs' or 'smash-ups' to report about myself.
I'm continuing with the radiation and feeling OK.
Yesterday I was extremely tired and when I got back home I pretty much laid around and snoozed for most of the rest of the day. Went to bed early. Didn't even feel like getting to the computer for this simple little update.
Today I feel 'sluggish'. I probably would have called in to work reporting I was sick. So I will probably have another day of taking it easy today.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Radiation - Day 3
Everything still seems to be fine. I hope it is working. I'm still feeling as though it hasn't started yet - the chemo and radiation.
I got to the hospital right around 2:00pm and within 5 minutes I had been given my shot. So now I just waited until radiation time at 3:10. ...and they happened to be running late today. Much easier today as I only was run through the setup process a single time before the radiation. I even think I may have dozed off during the process.
So I am at home now. Craig is on his way from Cleveland to his little hide-away cabin on the Rapid River and is spending the night with us. Dinner and some quality time.
See you all tomorrow - same time - same place.
I got to the hospital right around 2:00pm and within 5 minutes I had been given my shot. So now I just waited until radiation time at 3:10. ...and they happened to be running late today. Much easier today as I only was run through the setup process a single time before the radiation. I even think I may have dozed off during the process.
So I am at home now. Craig is on his way from Cleveland to his little hide-away cabin on the Rapid River and is spending the night with us. Dinner and some quality time.
See you all tomorrow - same time - same place.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Radiation - Day 2
I have updated a couple of additional dates since yesterday. June 17th - MRI and July 2nd - EEG. You can scroll down to these dates to read or use the Blog Archive on the bottom right to go directly to these pages.
Due to all of the feedback I received about people having difficulty leaving a comment - I dug into the innards of the setup and set the comments section differently. It seems to have worked as now I am seeing all of your comments. Thanks
The Nitty Gritty -
Last night went really well. I slept well and had no nauseous feelings at all. As a matter of fact I felt no differently than I did Sunday night before any of this started. That was good. Must be all of the different medications are working as they are supposed to.
I now have a new procedure every day prior to my radiation. I report to the Medical Oncology area one hour ahead of my radiation to get a shot of Amifostine. This drug is intended to reduce many of the side affects that will be caused by radiation. But I have another medication that I now have to take at home one hour before the Amifostine. This is to reduce the side affects caused from this shot. This new prescription is Kytril.
It's going to be really interesting looking at all of these different bills when they start to get posted. This treatment is rated $$$$$.
After the shot I go and have blood drawn for the radiation tests through the week. This is done on sight every Tuesday. Then around the corner to the patient lounge until my name is called.
You know the drill - buckled down to the bed - the scans begin. Every day so far starting last Friday I have had two passes to verify the positioning is exactly right. They told me that beginning tomorrow I will only have one of these passes. They must becoming more confident. Then a third pass that is the actual radiation. IT IS OVER WITH FOR ANOTHER DAY. I am advised that the nurse wanted to see me.
So back to the patient area for my call - which was only a couple of minutes. Vitals were taken and just some quick questions about how I was doing. She told me that the Doctor also wanted to see me and she left.
Dr. Herman - my radiation oncologist - entered a few moments later with another doctor. He looked at my throat and commented no change as of yet - which was expected. Asked me how I was doing and just more of the usual doctor-patient exchange.
So - the question is - HOW AM I DOING?
To this point I am doing just fine. None of the ugly symptoms have yet to appear. My radiation is not painful and I am not feeling any pain and for that matter I am not yet feeling any differently nor any unusual or new discomforts.
So until tomorrow - Soyanora! Hope I can report things are also this good tomorrow. Keep the comments coming. And share this with whomever you wish.
Patrick
Due to all of the feedback I received about people having difficulty leaving a comment - I dug into the innards of the setup and set the comments section differently. It seems to have worked as now I am seeing all of your comments. Thanks
The Nitty Gritty -
Last night went really well. I slept well and had no nauseous feelings at all. As a matter of fact I felt no differently than I did Sunday night before any of this started. That was good. Must be all of the different medications are working as they are supposed to.
I now have a new procedure every day prior to my radiation. I report to the Medical Oncology area one hour ahead of my radiation to get a shot of Amifostine. This drug is intended to reduce many of the side affects that will be caused by radiation. But I have another medication that I now have to take at home one hour before the Amifostine. This is to reduce the side affects caused from this shot. This new prescription is Kytril.
It's going to be really interesting looking at all of these different bills when they start to get posted. This treatment is rated $$$$$.
After the shot I go and have blood drawn for the radiation tests through the week. This is done on sight every Tuesday. Then around the corner to the patient lounge until my name is called.
You know the drill - buckled down to the bed - the scans begin. Every day so far starting last Friday I have had two passes to verify the positioning is exactly right. They told me that beginning tomorrow I will only have one of these passes. They must becoming more confident. Then a third pass that is the actual radiation. IT IS OVER WITH FOR ANOTHER DAY. I am advised that the nurse wanted to see me.
So back to the patient area for my call - which was only a couple of minutes. Vitals were taken and just some quick questions about how I was doing. She told me that the Doctor also wanted to see me and she left.
Dr. Herman - my radiation oncologist - entered a few moments later with another doctor. He looked at my throat and commented no change as of yet - which was expected. Asked me how I was doing and just more of the usual doctor-patient exchange.
So - the question is - HOW AM I DOING?
To this point I am doing just fine. None of the ugly symptoms have yet to appear. My radiation is not painful and I am not feeling any pain and for that matter I am not yet feeling any differently nor any unusual or new discomforts.
So until tomorrow - Soyanora! Hope I can report things are also this good tomorrow. Keep the comments coming. And share this with whomever you wish.
Patrick
Monday, August 23, 2010
First Day of the Rest of My Life...
The official day of treatment is today. Carol and I got to the Sparrow Cancer Center this morning around 8:15am. We were ushered back to 'Infusion Room 10' which is my own private 'cell' in this area. The IV was tethered to my body and the process was explained to us. I begin a 'pre-hydration' first. During this time I am giving steroids and a shot of Kytril (to help prevent Nausea). Then the Cisplatin. (My magic elixir.) This was completed at just about noon and then I started the 'post-hydration' - which will take about another hour. Then Carol and I are headed for lunch before returning to this area for a shot of Amifostine. I am using this drug to help eliminate the dryness in my mouth and retain my taste sensation that gets reduced or lost during the radiation process. Around the hospital everyone is excited to see how I will react to this treatment as this is the first time that it has been used at this facility for this application. I'm hoping also that this works.
It's hard to describe my emotions that I have been having in anticipation of my treatment. It's been a good thing that the past three weeks have been an especially busy time - what with all of the medical tests and preparation and all of the last minute 'getting in the summer' things. Fortunately by being so busy I have avoided the desperation time of thinking about what is really happening to me and how it effects my body and quality of life but additionally what my immediate future will be like during the next 2-3 months and the true discomfort, pain, and agony I more than likely will be facing.
I was reminded of that today when the dietitian met with us - explaining how she will help me with my diet. And as she continued to explain she described how I will be using my feeding tube to take my prescribed diet. And how I would be taking it every three hours - six times a day. Now this was all news to me. STUPID ME! I thought I was going to be using this for 'OLIVES' as George had suggested. Seriously I thought I would be blending up my meals at the times I couldn't eat or taking soup or 'Ensure' or something like that from time to time. But - more than likely my throat will get to a point where I will not be able to swallow and my diet will be completely ingested through my new 'pie hole'. With lots of water and my daily dosage of drugs will also be crushed and taken this way.
Not to worry about that now. I will be disconnected shortly and will head for the cafeteria.
I will continue after my radiation.
5:00pm
I'm home now from the hospital. The first day of radiation went as expected.
Well radiation technology is similar to an an x-ray except they turn up the power slightly. An x-ray comes at you at 110 volts and the radiation is about hundred times more powerful - at 110,000 volts or so. Just as too many x-rays (at the dentist or at the hospital) can cause damage, well the radiation really causes damage. The science and medical knowledge that is used is to 'fire' this radiation precisely at the cancer area while avoiding as much as possible of the good stuff. And that is where the problems begin because it is impossible to not hit some good stuff. In my case the good stuff is located inside of the back of my mouth, the bottom left area of my mouth and the top of my throat. This radiation will take up to two weeks possibly before I will notice any of these negative effects.
During the days ahead I will try to report how I am doing and feeling as much as possible.
I am feeling fine right now. The chemo and the radiation went rather well and I had been giving several different medications to help me avoid the nausea and dry mouth that is so often caused by the affects of chemo. They seem to be working good right now. The radiation is zero pain - but I am required to lay motionless for the complete time that is required for radiation. Today was about 25-30 minutes. Laying motionless is not as difficult as it may seem as I am completely restrained by a face mask and a head and upper body mold that has been previously fitted and adjusted just for me. The mold is placed on a movable bed and then the face restraining device is toggle bolted down to the bed through the mold into the bed. My knees are elevated and held up by a pillow like device that is placed underneath and my feet are disabled by attaching them together and then restraining them. It kind of feels like completing a face plant off of a bicycle after hitting the curb only I am laying face up versus face down. You don't even think about blinking. I hope I never have to twitch, cough, itch or most of all sneeze. What would I do.
I have pretty much described how I feel and what I did. There is one more thing of note. Talking to the dietitian was rather shocking and I was totally unprepared for her descriptions. As I have know knowledge of how I will feel in the future, her description of what I would be doing with the feeding tube in the future and how I would come to feel to need the feeding tube for energy, nourishment and medication was a lot of additional medical advise that I will more than likely need in the future. It also bothered Carol a lot.
Please apologize for this for being so long today and in the future they will be much shorter, especially as I become accustomed to the treatments and affects. I continue radiation every day, 5 days a week and am scheduled for 7 to 8 weeks. I am scheduled for two more chemo treatments at three week intervals.
I do plan on updating here every day after treatment. Please read, share and enjoy. I would appreciated that you 'Became a follower' of this blog and that you make 'comments' as this will be my best and easiest form of communication so that I can reach all of my family, friends, past co-workers and anyone else I may have encountered in the past. It certainly will be become shorter than today.
Keep sending all your thoughts and prayers my way. They are all appreciated.
Thanks - Patrick
It's hard to describe my emotions that I have been having in anticipation of my treatment. It's been a good thing that the past three weeks have been an especially busy time - what with all of the medical tests and preparation and all of the last minute 'getting in the summer' things. Fortunately by being so busy I have avoided the desperation time of thinking about what is really happening to me and how it effects my body and quality of life but additionally what my immediate future will be like during the next 2-3 months and the true discomfort, pain, and agony I more than likely will be facing.
I was reminded of that today when the dietitian met with us - explaining how she will help me with my diet. And as she continued to explain she described how I will be using my feeding tube to take my prescribed diet. And how I would be taking it every three hours - six times a day. Now this was all news to me. STUPID ME! I thought I was going to be using this for 'OLIVES' as George had suggested. Seriously I thought I would be blending up my meals at the times I couldn't eat or taking soup or 'Ensure' or something like that from time to time. But - more than likely my throat will get to a point where I will not be able to swallow and my diet will be completely ingested through my new 'pie hole'. With lots of water and my daily dosage of drugs will also be crushed and taken this way.
Not to worry about that now. I will be disconnected shortly and will head for the cafeteria.
I will continue after my radiation.
5:00pm
I'm home now from the hospital. The first day of radiation went as expected.
Well radiation technology is similar to an an x-ray except they turn up the power slightly. An x-ray comes at you at 110 volts and the radiation is about hundred times more powerful - at 110,000 volts or so. Just as too many x-rays (at the dentist or at the hospital) can cause damage, well the radiation really causes damage. The science and medical knowledge that is used is to 'fire' this radiation precisely at the cancer area while avoiding as much as possible of the good stuff. And that is where the problems begin because it is impossible to not hit some good stuff. In my case the good stuff is located inside of the back of my mouth, the bottom left area of my mouth and the top of my throat. This radiation will take up to two weeks possibly before I will notice any of these negative effects.
During the days ahead I will try to report how I am doing and feeling as much as possible.
I am feeling fine right now. The chemo and the radiation went rather well and I had been giving several different medications to help me avoid the nausea and dry mouth that is so often caused by the affects of chemo. They seem to be working good right now. The radiation is zero pain - but I am required to lay motionless for the complete time that is required for radiation. Today was about 25-30 minutes. Laying motionless is not as difficult as it may seem as I am completely restrained by a face mask and a head and upper body mold that has been previously fitted and adjusted just for me. The mold is placed on a movable bed and then the face restraining device is toggle bolted down to the bed through the mold into the bed. My knees are elevated and held up by a pillow like device that is placed underneath and my feet are disabled by attaching them together and then restraining them. It kind of feels like completing a face plant off of a bicycle after hitting the curb only I am laying face up versus face down. You don't even think about blinking. I hope I never have to twitch, cough, itch or most of all sneeze. What would I do.
I have pretty much described how I feel and what I did. There is one more thing of note. Talking to the dietitian was rather shocking and I was totally unprepared for her descriptions. As I have know knowledge of how I will feel in the future, her description of what I would be doing with the feeding tube in the future and how I would come to feel to need the feeding tube for energy, nourishment and medication was a lot of additional medical advise that I will more than likely need in the future. It also bothered Carol a lot.
Please apologize for this for being so long today and in the future they will be much shorter, especially as I become accustomed to the treatments and affects. I continue radiation every day, 5 days a week and am scheduled for 7 to 8 weeks. I am scheduled for two more chemo treatments at three week intervals.
I do plan on updating here every day after treatment. Please read, share and enjoy. I would appreciated that you 'Became a follower' of this blog and that you make 'comments' as this will be my best and easiest form of communication so that I can reach all of my family, friends, past co-workers and anyone else I may have encountered in the past. It certainly will be become shorter than today.
Keep sending all your thoughts and prayers my way. They are all appreciated.
Thanks - Patrick
Sunday, August 1, 2010
What a Day
This is my first input here. Setting up my blog?? What a 'Rookie'.
I do plan on updating here every day after treatment. Please read, share and enjoy. I would appreciated that you 'Became a follower' of this blog and that you make 'comments' as this will be my best and easiest form of communication so that I can reach all of my family, friends, past co-workers and anyone else I may have encountered in the past.
I do plan on updating here every day after treatment. Please read, share and enjoy. I would appreciated that you 'Became a follower' of this blog and that you make 'comments' as this will be my best and easiest form of communication so that I can reach all of my family, friends, past co-workers and anyone else I may have encountered in the past.
Who knows what will happen. What if I don't like it. Then what?
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