He is starting to get the rash pretty good. This picture does not show it very well, but his forehead and nose are pretty red. He also has rash on his chest and abdomen, so while it sucks to look like you slept in Poison Ivy the worse the rash. . . . the better the treatment is working! 🙂
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[singlepic=14,500,400]Doug goes in to set up his own radiation table! Typical Engineer!![singlepic=13,500,400]They give Doug the mask to put on[singlepic=12,500,400]The mask is screwed to the table to keep him still during radiation[singlepic=11,500,400]The nurses make me get in the picture! http://ukviagras.com/ed/kamagra-uk/
Well the first week hasn’t been so bad. There are very little side effects so far. My taste buds are going south, but I don’t know if it is from the radiation or the chemo. I’m still eating pretty well but I’ve been unable to gain the additional weight that I wanted to. I’ve been stuck on 188lbs for more than a week now despite the excessive eating habits. I doubt the little bit of exercise would explain the lack of weight gain but I guess it is possible.
The next week is likely to bring the rash from one of the chemo drugs. I’m really looking forward to that :(. I know Laurie will take some pictures and post them with some witty comments about how I’m going back to my zit face high school days.
The radiation department at the hospital is not exactly a well oiled machine. I would think they would be able streamline the scheduling given that it only takes a short time for each person and they know what that time is. Oh well, maybe it will get better over the next 6 weeks, but I doubt it. Then again, if that’s the worst thing I have to complain about then things aren’t so bad.
We just got back from a doctor’s appt. that was set up to go over the latest PET/CT scan that was done last Thursday. The report shows (and I quote) Interval resolution of previous hypermetabolic mass at the base of tongue, cervical lymph nodes as well as lung nodules, consistent with excellent response to therapy. No new masses suspicious for malignant disease noted. That means that the scan cannot find ANY tumor!! All of it is gone or at least so small it cannot be picked up on the scan!! We are so thankful. . . praise GOD!! He is still having to do the daily radiation and weekly chemo starting this Wednesday (there are probably still viable cancer cells present), but we are so close to complete cure!! March 18th will be the last treatment. . . .so the count down begins! 🙂 Thank all of you for your prayers and support.
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Dougie did a short workout at our gym last night, he is slowly getting better and better. He is eating great and going back in tonight to try another workout!
Well Friday wasn’t the turning point for me, but fortunately Saturday night was. Laurie and I went to a birthday dinner Saturday night with my family at a Japanese restaurant. I ended up eating myself into an uncomfortable state, but it was really good and I got half of it down.
Then on Sunday the binging began. I started out with a chocolate KK donut before church and then a pancake and sausage after church. A little while later in early afternoon I finished off my dinner from the night before only to have a couple cups of pudding as desert. Then for dinner I had some spciy shrimp, broccoli and french fries followed a couple hours later by a big slice of caramel cheesecake. With all that I gained 2 pounds yesterday.
I know that lots of people out there would love to have the problem of trying to gain weight, but it is short lived and not really worth the whole cancer thing. The race is on now to gain as much as I can before I get too deep into radiation since I’ve been told I could lose quite a bit during that part of the treatment. At this point I’m expecting to continue to feel better and eat more each day until I start feeling the effects of the radiation. Where possible I’m even going to try to do some light exercise.
Laurie is going to try to get a picture of me in the radiation machine when that starts, so look for that coming up.
I’m cautiously optimistic that today is my “turning the corner” day but it has yet to be fully realized. My stomach is feeling a little more steady and except for the sour milk I got at Waffle House this morning I feel pretty decent. I did manage to eat 3/4 of my waffle and all of my sausage despite the milk incident.
For this cycle I haven’t dropped below 180lbs (so far), so my new goal is to get well over 190lbs before the end of the first week of radiation which starts on January 28th. I’ll probably just be able to hold steady until early next week, but as soon as I’m able let the binging begin. My cravings right now are still for sweets, but I’m hoping they turn towards spicy solid foods like they did last time. We are going out to dinner Saturday night for my mom’s birthday at a Japanese restaurant and I’m looking forward to some shrimp and chicken.
My hair is still really patchy on my head and face, but I haven’t lost any of my body hair or eyebrows, etc. I suspect that may happen towards the end of this cycle if it happens at all. I have gotten some compliments on my bald head and baby face, but I’m not sure if it will stay after all this is over. I’ll have to see how it grows on me in the next few months. Of course, 12 degree days like today aren’t helping the case to be bald.
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We are now set to see the radiation oncologist today instead of Thursday (or maybe in addition to Thursday. . . we see the docs on a regular basis!!!) Dougie managed the weekend pretty well. He got some food down and I gave him 2 liters of fluid over the last couple of days. I am sure he is ready to be disconnected from the port, but we kept him connected so they would not have to stick him today when they get labs today. He has been a good sport with all this. The constant fluid being poured into him, constantly being connected to a machine or fluids and tubes. No FUN! He has only lost about 7 pounds over the last few days, so we are pretty happy with that. He managed not to vomit at all from this cycle of chemo (that I know of! 🙂 ). So we are looking forward to the end of the week, which will be when he starts to get some of his strength back and get back to a little bit of normal life (normal is such a subjective term for us now!).
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Today Dougie got his second cycle of chemotherapy. He is doing great today, he had a quick check by the doctor who said he is doing great, the tumor is still smaller and his labs were good for chemo today. He went to a different office today for his chemo and did not have internet and therefore could not work so he watched a movie instead. It was in the office building where I used to work, so I had lunch with an old friend from Dr. Lawhead’s office, which was nice. Dougie is going to be getting another PET scan before they start radiation, which will be scheduled in the next 2 weeks. I am excited to see the reduction of the tumor and to see if the “suspicious” lesion in the lung went away. His cough is now gone, so that is a good sign. . .
In 3 weeks, he will start the radiation treatments. We have an appt. with the radiation oncologist next Thursday to make his face mask that they will use to hold his head still during radiation. Basically, they take a fishnet like material that is “wet” and place it over his face (like a wash cloth) while he is lying down. The mask then hardens and is a one of a kind radiation mask (which he gets to keep after the treatment is over, and Doug has decided to hang it in our basement when it gets finished!). When he goes for his radiation, they will screw the mask (that is placed over his face) to the table to ensure he is completely still and radiate!! Radiation will be everyday, but only lasts a couple of minutes so it is not too bad. He already went to the dentist a week ago to have flouride trays made for his teeth. The radiation can cause havoc on teeth, so the flouride is to help keep him from losing teeth due to the radiation damage. He has been meticulus with his mouth care to avoid oral sores and fungus that can occur during chemo, and now he will have to step it up a notch once radiation begins. So much prep work is done for radiation, it is amazing. He already went to the speech pathologist to learn tongue exercises, and he has a nutritionist on stand by who will be monitoring his eating/nutrition when he starts radiation. We are both a bit nervous about starting radiation, but I think once it starts it will be okay. We will handle each bump in the road and focus on the goal. . . At this moment we are about 10 weeks, until cure!!
Courtesy of Bill Jones Productions we have a great video of the hair shaving party!
Well it’s good to know that I’m not the only one that is “experiencing” the shaved head right now. It does feel a little weird in the shower and I can sure feel drafts now. I’m sticking to the hats when I go out, but with the stubble that is still there the hats take some doing to get on.
I want to let everyone that participated know that I appreciate the support of doing the head shaving party with me. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have occurred to me to do if a friend of mine was in my situation as me. I also want to thank Anthony at Head Rush hair salon for letting us take his place over for a while. Vous pouvez acheter du Viagra ici.
The beard is next and at the rate it is falling out I expect it to go tomorrow at the latest. Laurie appreciates the extra couple of days that she got with the beard. The next 3 months are going to really kill her since the beard is for her benefit anyway.
