Good evening! Today was radiation treatment number 15 of 30, so it’s the official halfway point. My Dad is staying with me this week and into next week when Michelle and the kids return from their trip to Arizona. The radiation effects are presenting themselves now – it’s a cumulative sort of thing, so we knew that the further we went along, the more things would start to appear. I have developed a sensitive sore in the bottom right corner of my mouth, so I try to avoid letting any fluid back there (even water sets it off). My sense of taste has been thrown off, so everything tastes spoiled to me now – even water tastes nasty. To compensate, I am using the GI tube for most of my medicine and calorie intake. While I definitely had some weight to lose when I started this whole process, I have dipped a little too low and the nutrition specialists at Dana Farber have ironed out a plan to help stabilize and maintain a healthy weight. The best news is that there is no standard pain right now, so I have avoided painkiller use – which allows me to make the daily drive up to Boston and back without needing a chauffeur. My Dad has been very helpful during his stay here – I can disappear for long stretches and he’s completely self-sufficient. I laid down for a minute this evening and woke up two hours later (missed my afternoon nap) so my daily schedule is sometimes hard to predict. My brother Mike and my Dad overlapped their visits a bit, and they did most of the work in assembling a big 7 x 7 Rubbermaid shed in our backyard. Our house in Rhode Island has very little storage and no garage, so a shed to store garden tools and children’s vehicles is a huge help. No more running the bikes into the kitchen every time it rains! The twist in my ability to taste has been a little frustrating, but going up to Dana Farber daily helps keep everything in perspective. I see people dealing with so much more than me – little kids, older people, patients with no family or friends there for support, the legion of brave chemo recipients. I think everyone handles Cancer in their own way – and I don’t see myself as a CANCER WARRIOR or anything outstanding here. I consider myself lucky to have found the disease in its early stages and to have such fantastic care and support from the staff at Dana Farber, my loving family and all my friends. I’m gonna work through the treatment and the rehab nice and quiet and I will see all of you on the other side. My last radiation treatment in August 10th, and I am targeting a late August/early September return to work. Thanks for all the prayers, support and well wishes – feel free to share this with anyone I may have missed. Your friend, Mark
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 04:10:03 +0000
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