My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

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Rumpshot
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Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:56 am

My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by Rumpshot »

Seven weekly chemo infusions and 35 daily (Mon-Fri) radiation treatments finished this morning at 8:15 AM MST!

Two radiation treatments were postponed at the mid-point due to a severe nose bleed. I could not breath through the mask and treatment. They got tacked on to the end. Still 35 total.

Infusion was mostly benign. It caused some acne, that was predicted and some sores that were expected. I was also told to expect fingertips to dry, crack and split. I had some hang nails and a couple of splits but not bad.

Radiation burned the hell out of my neck! I have patches that are peeling like a really bad sunburn. Lotion has helped keep the skin pain down. I expect this all to start clearing up early next week.

The worst side effects were the loss of saliva which leaves my mouth dry and sour. Surprisingly, if I get my mouth rinsed well, I can taste food that I try to eat. Doesn't last long. I have been on a feeding tube for 3 1/2 weeks. Boost VHC (very high calorie) is my current go to food. 3 boxes (fruit box size) a day. Each one is the caloric equivalent of a Big Mac. With that much, I can almost maintain my weight. Learned a week and a half ago that I could tolerate Coke. It is now my go to mouth rinse, wash my pills down, and 200 calorie boost.

My gag reflex is super high right now. With the divot out of the back of my tongue, food, especially pills have a habit of getting stuck there. Sometimes I can get another drink and wash it down or it gags me. It is not pretty watching me retch over the kitchen sink.

The Radiation Oncologist told me to expect a month to start getting taste buds, saliva glands, etc back on-line. Then the next visit, this week, he commented how well I was doing compared to many in my situation. With that last observation, I hope to be eating real food in 1-2 weeks...
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Cobar
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by Cobar »

Nice, keep kicking its ass.
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randy
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by randy »

Sierra Hotel!
...even before I read MHI, my response to seeing a poster for the stars of the latest Twilight movies was "I see 2 targets and a collaborator".
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JustinR
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by JustinR »

Good to hear. Hang in there.
"The armory was even better. Above the door was a sign: You dream, we build." -Mark Owen, No Easy Day

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Darrell
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by Darrell »

Hang in there, man! :)
Eppur si muove--Galileo
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Netpackrat
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by Netpackrat »

Darrell wrote:Hang in there, man! :)
+1
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Precision
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by Precision »

can you make it 2-3 weeks without bacon?

Glad to hear things are going well. Keep up kicking its ass.
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~Thomas Jefferson
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Weetabix
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by Weetabix »

Keep up the good work!
Precision wrote:can you make it 2-3 weeks without bacon?
Bacon shakes? :geek:
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rightisright
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by rightisright »

Get it!
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Odahi
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Re: My Cancer Treatment Plan is complete

Post by Odahi »

Glad to hear it's going well. I have a friend at work who has a benign brain tumor. It had grown large enough to start causing vision problems due to its pressing on the optic nerve. He's in the middle of his regimen, going in for Gamma Knife surgery next month. God Bless, you have lots of friends who are pulling for you.
Birds gotta swim, fish gotta fly, assholes gotta ass, until the day they die.

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