Ice Cream to the Rescue…

Up until Friday I was nearly asymptomatic. Until then I had only a lump in my throat, just below my larynx, that I could feel when swallowing. Friday I was eating a pancake and it got stuck at the lump. I tried to wash it down with some water and it just sat above it. Not awesome.

When the pancake finally went down all of the esophagus symptoms they had described started immediately…sore throat, severe indigestion pain, and difficulty swallowing. From there I went to Rite Aid to get my BLM (benadryl, lidocaine, maalox) mouthwash. I pour a shot of that in near my throat and swallow. The lidocaine portion very quickly numbs the throat to make it a little less painful to swallow. If anyone is not aware, lidocaine is the stuff the dentist uses to numb your mouth…and it feels the same but only where I let it touch. The other ingredients are there to slightly reduce inflammation (benadryl) and help the rest slide down and soothe (maalox).

From what I have gathered, it is the best way to help people choke down things they really shouldn’t be eating anyway in my condition. So when I do use it, I try and limit myself to things that can be pretty much chewed to mush: scrambled eggs, avocado, yogurt, smoothies, and tons of ice cream. Ice cream has the added benefit of being cold enough to numb your throat with time so it is as soothing as it is tasty. After my first ice cream request Jen came home with four pints of Ben and Jerry’s. Probably could have done with quarts of just about anything, but B&J’s was a nice touch.

Besides all of this fun, treatment has been going well. I have gained some notoriety among the nursing staff. Each of the three treatment rooms has a picture of a different mountain scene on the ceiling that was put there by an outside contractor, and none of the nurses know what mountains they are. In my treatment room I thought the mountain looked familiar. A quick google search of Mount Rainier found a very similar picture. People had adamantly claimed the mountain was any number of mountains ranging from local to the alps with plenty of stories to go with them. The picture I gave them was indisputably the same mountain.

Mount Rainier ceiling photo

Today was the beginning of the end of my treatment week. I have treatments until Wednesday, and then I am finished. They tell me it will take two to four weeks to be done with all of my symptoms. I am hoping two will be the more appropriate number. October 14th I will be getting my port out. I have gotten used to it being there, but it is still creepy. With all of that coming to an end I am hoping to be back to work October 21st. All of my coworkers and bosses have been extremely supportive. They want me back, but have definitely made it clear that I should come back how and when I am ready. Since stress has been one of the things that tires me out I am extremely grateful for their understanding. That said, I REALLY want to get back work and out of the house ASAP.

Below is one more picture of an ugly half-naked guy. I took a picture a little late in the day so the lines had almost worn off, but they show the radiation zone. It starts below the voice box and fans out to either side with the middle narrower region extending just above my scar. Also, in the very center is one of my four tattoos. At this link there are some pictures, and the right one is very similar to the machine I use…except my shirt is off so they can line me up and they clamp my face down with a fancy mask. I had one of the awesome nurses take some pictures of me ready for treatment, and I took a panoramic of the room, all of which are below. FYI…clicking on them will make them bigger.

Radiation Zone

All Ready To Go

Good View of the Mask

Whole Room

• ← Moving right along…