7:30 am - Radiation. This went better today. First off, I was mentally prepared for the length of time I'd be in the mask -- that helped. Then, I think the mask wasn't quite fitted correctly yesterday. Today it seemed to have more breathing room. Finally, I brought my iPod in and they have a little speaker unit to plug into. I had set-up a few playlists but went with 3 consecutive live versions of LaVilla Strangiato. Clocking in at around 8 min each, I'd hoped to be in and out before the 3rd one queued up...but it took about halfway into the 3rd or about 20 min total. I can definitely feel a bit of stinging on my face/neck on the side that is being radiated. As I understand it, the same level of inflammation is occurring throughout my tissue. So, two down, 33 to go!
8:30am - Hydration. After radiation, I went straight over to the Chemo clinic for "hydration". They mandate two days of hydration following the chemo treatments I'm getting. So, today, I strapped in for a liter of saline + magnesium from 8:30 to 10:30.
After treatment, I went home for lunch and to change clothes and came into the office afterwards.
I'm dead tired, having failed to keep up with nausea meds yesterday and waking up at 3am with a real bad case of it. Didn't realize it was nausea from the treatement and I had medicine for it, I kept lying in bed til 4:30 when I got up and took a Compazine and settled on a recliner in the TV room with my alarm watch to get me up. Hopefully, I can manage to stay awake late enough this evening that I'll sleep through and be better rested tomorrow. With Nausea comes loss of appetite. Wasn't hungry yesterday and not so much today. Gotta eat, though. I can see where this will get really hard -- not hungry, lose your sense of taste, and it starts to get hard to swallow (hurt to swallow, even) -- yeah, I can definitely see how this will get hard over the next two months. Longer, really, as the effects don't exactly ease up immediately after the last treatment.
Right now, my biggest worries have to do with the Radiation and the mask. I literally can't move. What if I have to sneeze. Or what happens on the days that my nose is too stuffed to nose breathe? You know how hard it is to get Sudafed these days. This morning, with the nausea, I was legitimately worried that I'd have to throw up. They assure me they can get me out of that mask in seconds...but I doubt it covers those situations. Worse, if you stop the treatment, you probably have to either skip it, or start completely over. Each day's treatment involves a bit of machine calibration, followed by some sort of rest period (I assume this is processing the calibration data into the "program" that aims the treatment) and the actual treatment time is 8min. So, roughly 20 min in the mask. Last I want to do is reset that clock!
While I know that its easy for me to say that you're "over worrying" I can imagine that the prospect of having to puke while strapped under that mask has to be frightening.
ReplyDeleteI've been taking an OTC allergy/sinus PE med that I just get in the drug area of my grocery store. It does the trick for me.
I suspect by the time this is over, you'll be consuming soups and liquids. You might want to start exploring what you enjoy in that area. I know that the strained Greek yougert that I'm getting is about 18 grams of protein. I mix that with some soy protein powder and about 8 oz. of Juicy Juice (100% fruit juice) to make a protein-rich "shake" that I drink after the gym. As you go liquid, protein will be a challenge.
Hang in there!
- Gar
Richie! Praying for you constantly!!! Hope all goes well!! I know you will take on this challenge with a vengeance!
ReplyDelete@Gary - Radiation went better today. Mask fit was good and my breathing was all OK. Plus, nausea is a bit better.
ReplyDeleteOn the Sudafed - definitely a thought, but the place is a good 40 min drive from home and the anti-nausea drugs mostly contain "drowsiness" warnings, so I either need rides or have to try to limit the amount of drowsy meds I'm taking.
On your last point, I keep hearing that Whey protein is "better" than Soy protein at keeping muscle on. I was planning to supplement with whey protein, if I can tolerate it. You're right, I ought to experiment now and now wait.
@Jackie - Thanks.Don't know if I'm taking this on with a vengance. I feel more like a passenger -- trying to do all the "right" things I'm being told to do as I pass through this process that is incrementally debilitating.