Moving right along…

I have heard that people are starting to wonder if no news is good news…so far it is:) The scans were clean as previously posted so we have completed the additional two cycles of chemo as recommended. Writing this two weeks and a day after my last chemo treatment, it is nice to be not nauseated on a Wednesday as has been the case for pretty much the last six months.

Just over a week after my final chemo treatment I met with the radiation oncologist to discuss my upcoming radiation treatment. He answered all of my questions and made radiation seem like it will not be a big concern long term. He explained that cells are most vulnerable to being killed by radiation during the period which they are splitting. This is the reason that radiation is given in small daily doses over a rather long period of time so that any remaining hot cells are killed.

One concern is second cancer caused by the prolonged radiation exposure. The doctor brought this up and explained that second cancer due to radiation is 1 out of 100 according to the worst case studies, and it is 1 out of 10,000 for some of the most favorable studies. In either case, not something that I am very concerned about. He felt that he would be able to essentially miss my heart. Any radiation of my lungs could cause pneumonia like symptoms that may persist for 1-3 months, but, since there is no infection, it is not really pneumonia with the concerns associated with it…just the annoying coughing and wheezing.

The most likely symptoms are reddening of the skin like a sunburn with the irritation associated with it, nausea, fatigue, and irritation of the esophagus. The skin reddening would be treated like sunburn with lotions. The nausea and fatigue can be mitigated by moderate exercise. The esophageal irritation will require more Prilosec, Zantac, and Tums, or some combination of them just like during chemo. It could also mean restricting my diet based on what irritates it. Some things mentioned were foods that were too hot, cold, spicy, or acidic. Pretty much everything fun.

The only lasting negative affect of a higher probability is nuking my thyroid. Low thyroid function can be resolved by taking a pill – every day…for the rest of my life. Not a big deal, but not the most awesome thing I have ever heard. From what I understand, low thyroid function runs in the family anyhow so I may have had to do that anyhow. All in all, not a bad trade off if they manage to sweep up anything that is left.

The following day I went and got all lined up in the radiation machine. They wiggle you around until everything is lined up then lock you down. To keep your head alined they put a moldable mask over your face and clamp it to the table. Then they suck the air out of a moldable foam bead bed to lock it into place. Once this is all done they turn on the alignment lasers and give you four new tattoos on the X’s to help align you in the future. They are just little dots, but now I am just like every other thirty-something and almost have more tattoos than I can count on one hand.

These two steps are all it takes to be ready to start radiation. Since my white blood cell counts have been so low I will be getting a blood test Monday, September 9th so I can start Tuesday…three weeks after chemo finished. If the test shows that I am not healthy enough, I will start the following week. Either way, I am in for 20 minutes each weekday for three weeks.

On the home front, my hair is getting closer to normal. The hair on my head is definitely not full, but the only thing I am really missing to look a bit more normal is my eyebrows. Right now the hair is too thin to let it get long so it is hard to tell how it is going to come back. I hear it tends to change when it comes back. So far it may look a little lighter.

The residual non-cancerous mass is slightly deforming my superior vena cava still. I am trying to get out and take short walks with Tahoe and start doing some pushups to see what I can handle without getting too dizzy. So far moderate exercise has all been manageable and the doctors expect me to get back to where I was a few years before I started noticing it slowing me down. Apparently old age doesn’t hit as rapidly as I had been giving it credit…only a tumor does. I also never realized how hard a pushup was when you hadn’t really done one in 6 months. Each day they have gotten a little easier. Thank god because I have 15 pounds of steroid (and ice cream) induced belly to work off.

Pics…Before, during, during-later, now

Before

During

During Later – JenSchmidt(c)

Now

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