Setback?

Well, I thought I had it whipped. I went to work this last week and made it to Thursday, but by Thursday afternoon I was exhausted. So, I stayed home Friday hoping to rest up and regain my strength. My digestive system was coming around as well. I am taking pro-biotics in an attempt to rebuild my stomach bacteria necessary for digesting foods. I felt better than I had in months.

When I woke up Friday morning though,  I knew something was wrong and then Monkeys flew out of my butt and I was back where I was three weeks ago when I was still having chemo and radiation every day. The rest of the weekend was spent like many, many of my previous days, just laying around feeling tired and sick. At least I didn't fell as sick and icky as when I had the chemo drugs in my system.

My dreams of a whiskey and a cigar will have to wait till I'm better I guess. So... I remain hopeful I'll be able to get to work on Monday, but realize I may have pushed coming back too soon. 

I'll know more in the morning. 

Wish me luck.

RT

Thanks

It's been 12 days since my treatments ended. I will go back to work tomorrow. While I am still weak, I believe I am up to it.

The hardest thing will  be getting ready and driving in to work. I admit  I'm looking forward to seeing my workmates again. And that brings me to the "Thanks" part of this post.

I received a nice surprise last Thursday. The folks at my office sent me a card. See below.

 It's hard to express how much this helped my moral. All I can say is Thanks, Thanks, Thanks.

RT

The Aftermath

It's 5 days since I stopped chemo and radiation. Today is the first day I didn't need to take the anti-nausea meds. It will take some more time to wash the chemo drugs out of my system. 

Instead of reporting the remaining  side effects and symptoms I thought a top ten list of my least favorite side effects of the chemo and radiation  would suffice.

TOP TEN THINGS I WILL NOT MISS ABOUT CANCER TREATMENTS

#10   Loss of Appetite
#9    Neuropathy of Hands and Feet
#8    Rashes
#7    Dizziness
#6    Loss of strength
#5    Burning sensation when peeing
#4    That icky feeling of just not being right
#3    Radiation burns
#2    Vomiting
and the number 1 thing I will not miss about cancer treatments is:  Continous Diarrhea  

If it sounds like I've been a bundle of joy for the last month or so you can see why. I am still experiencing some of the above mentioned maladies but hope they will dissipate soon.

Today was better than yesterday and I am hopeful that tomorrow will be better still.

RT

Down to the wire

This week's blog is proving my most difficult to post. It's almost 11:30 Sunday night and I'm still trying to get my side effects under control enough to attempt sleep. I have medication for the tumor pain, but this weekend has been all about stomach pains, nausea, and vomiting. 

I spent last night and this morning (from 10:00 pm Saturday night to 5:30 AM Sunday morning) sitting in the easy chair in the living room with severe cramps and stomach pain.

Today I've tried some different meds and foods, but still have the stomach pains. They are less severe than yesterday, but still enough to keep me awake. A search on the Internet led me to bananas as a soothing food. So ... I am tentatively munching on small bits on banana in hope it will ease the pain.

I've had to resort to pain pills for most of last week, but I am attempting to stop taking them. They won't help with the stomach issue anyway.

OK, enough about the past. Here's the good news. I have just TWO chemo days and radiation treatments left. It can't come soon enough for me.

I continue to work the problem hour by hour and I continue to  hang in.

RT