It's Getting Dicey....

Had Chemo last Wednesday....got pretty nauseous by Thursday night, very sick Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Thursday, in my weekly meeting with the Radiation Oncologist, I got the "We're worried about you...." speech due to weight loss. Now, the weight loss is more or less 100% a result of the nausea which is a result of the chemotherapy. For some reason, the "standard" nausea meds just don't cut down on the nausea for me unless I take them at "knock-out" doses. Had this discussion with the Doc and his response was, "Then you might be done with Chemo. We believe we can cure this cancer without anymore Chemo." So, I guess we'll see. What we did see last week was both my Kidney AND Liver functions are compromised -- so this, along with the weight loss -- is part of what's driving the Radiation Oncologist. The weekend was tough -- very little eaten and even struggles getting in fluids. Joyce actually wanted to take me to the ER Friday night for IV HYdration but we held off, hoping a night's sleep would tame the nausea. No luck, so Saturday afternoon around 3 we drove over to the local ER and went in for IV hydration. The good news is that Joyce had called my Oncologist Friday night for advice and he called ahead to the ER and spoke with the doctor on call. When we arrived Saturday, there was no hassle at all with having to explain things or convince them that all that was needed was IV fluids. As a bonus, they re-ran the Liver enzyme tests and my liver enzymes were much better (only slightly out of range versus way out of range). So, today was better, the nausea was tolerable and I've managed to get plenty of fluids and even a little solid food. For all those who are calling...please understand, it hurts me to talk. I am only picking up the phone if a doctor is calling. I've decided that the radiation therapy must be equivalent to a 60-day surgery which is performed incrementally and the wound is never closed or allowed to heal. That's what my throat feels like, anyhow, like I have an open wound, anyhow. So, there's 7 radiation treatments left. 9 days counting the weekend. I'm sure I'll make it to/through the final treatment. From there, he real healing can begin. That will be slow at first as eating & drinking will only be worse / harder in 9 days time. But as sure as day follows night, I'm sure that the healing will happen and I'll slowly get back to some sort of normal....