Last Week Of Chemo and Radiation!

I made it through six weeks of chemo and radiation without any major issues. My white blood count went low the last couple of weeks, but they gave me two shots a week apart, and my last blood work was normal! Both Doctors and their nurses warned me not to expect instant recovery for the next two weeks. They weren't kidding!It has actually been three weeks and I'm only now seeing improvement.

One of the coolest infusion Nurses, Vickie, suggested I should go outside and run the water hose in my mouth to get some hydration. Although she was joking, she actually had a brilliant suggestion! Instead of the water hose, I went outside behind the fence and turned up a bottle of water and was able to get it down. I went to the back yard behind the fence for my experiment in case I had to throw it up. I'm a little shy about losing it on the front porch where people can see it, but I had a private are in the yard and believe it or not it worked!

I guzzled a whole bottle of water and kept it down with only a little pain as it passed the tumor on its way to my belly. Only problem is, I can only do it while standing up and I have to guzzle it like I was in a field pulling tobacco at the end of the row. I can't get cold water down, but if it is room temperature or warmer, it does not hurt so much.

The Doctor thinks it should be healing up enough to not hurt, and it is much better than it was. It does seem to be getting better each week. He also thinks I need to gain 15 pounds before the surgery, but that's a bit of a stretch since I can barely get water down. Maybe I can soon get a Pepsi, Coke or something with fattening calories down soon. I keep trying!

Time seems to pass faster now during the day, but I still look forward to trips to Raleigh to get fluids or go to Walmart, but I still can't walk very far at a time. It was all I could muster to get from my chair to the car or even the bathroom the first two weeks after chemo, but this past week I was able to go outside and wander around the yard a little, as long as there is a chair close by. It has just been so hot I don't venture out that much.


Last week, I had another PET Scan. They shoot you full of radioactive sugar that attaches to any cancer cells so they glow and show up on the MRI. I will see all three Doctors this coming week, so hopefully I will get good news from them and we can proceed with the surgery and get this over with. Keep your fingers crossed and good vibrations next Tuesday!