I am one week through my six weeks of chemo and radiation and thought it was time for an update. Chemo is a matter of taking eight pills a day (I've got to get me one of those little pill box things) and I go to the Clinic each day for 10 minutes for them to microwave by backside.
I met with a very helpful radiation nurse today to discuss the "what and when" of side effects; there was some surprising good news! First, I'm not going to lose my hair (I photoshopped myself bald to see what I would look like...wow! not good!) and there will probably not be any significant nausea to deal with (apparently it would have appeared in the first few days if it was going to happen). Of course, she didn't make any promises, but at least I may not have to deal with these two side effects.
Looks like my chief side effects are going to be a radiation sunburn (where the sun don't shine), gastro distress and exhaustion. These are supposed to begin creeping up on me around week three, but we'll see.
They advised working, staying busy and enjoying what I enjoy as long as possible; so my list is
1. Charlene
2. Sushi
3. Charlene
4. Golf
5. Charlene/Blaine/Blair
6. Work
7. etc.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you get to keep your hair but honestly I was sort of looking forward to being directed by the white Harry Belafonte.
Thanks for telling us all your great butt stories.
Sincerely,
Choir member who hopes you still have your sense of humor
So glad to hear you are not having any of the standard chemo effects. Those are extrememly horrifying to watch as a wife, I couldn't imagine being the victim of them. So, we are praising God for those.
ReplyDeleteAbout the radiation effects - those you describes are exactly the ones Lowell experienced. And they did progress as the weeks went on. The exhaustion was the worse so make sure you give yourself the rest you need. Even though you can continue to work, you may find you need to not work as much as you progress in the treatments, so please decide to rest when you need it. Remember, cancer thrives on stress (which causes acid build-up in the body) so don't try to do when you can't. The sunburn feeling will subside but will still ache, and you will likely get very dark in that region and your skin will then peel. This happened to Lowell too.
We are glad you have developed this blog to keep us updated and so we better know how to pray for you!