Hi Vanessa and Watt,

I hope my blog didn't scare you. Dan had Erbitux...and, it was later determined that his high fevers and chills were a result of that. Everyone has different experiences.

The one thing most people will tell you is the hardest part is the 2 weeks post treatment. So to answer your question Vanessa, I would not travel 4 days post treatment if there was a way around it. 4 days post, Dan was not able to drive, and he was not making good decisions (due to the pain meds). He got really dehydrated and had to go (unwillingly) to the hospital for hydration. Eventually I was able to coordinate home health care IV hydration through my insurance company.

If you do have to travel, I'd have someone stay with Watt if he is on a lot of pain medication.

Bob sounds like he faired better than Dan if he was working a 19 hour day 2 weeks after treatment. ROCK ON, BOB! But, most will tell you that the hardest part is actually post treatment...about one to two weeks after the treatment...and, then things start to improve.

Just so you know...Dan wouldn't have been out of work for as long as he was if he had any say in it. The company he worked for was hq'd in Switzerland. I think there were issues in the translation of the form the doctor needed to sign to release Dan back to work. All of the questions asked were followed by "for 8 hours straight." So, for instance...is the patient able to hold 30 pounds over their head for 8 HOURS STRAIGHT? Our doctors and nurses tried to reason with the form originator...but, it was a long process.

So, the fact that you are self employed will allow you to return to work at a pace that is comfortable to you. Don't use Dan's timeframe as a guide. For most people it will likely be somewhere between Bob's experience and Dan's.

Watt, do you have a feeding tube and/or port? I think if Dan had a feeding tube he would have had a little bit easier time. Swallowing got tough in the last few weeks.

Vanessa, I found the blog to be very therapeutic. I started it up because I was getting tired of spending the little free time I had conveying information to worried relatives. It ended up being a family project with the kids...they were my editorial advisory staff and they'd often remind me that something they conveyed to me was "blog worthy." And, they also enjoyed deciding on which photos we would display. When they were away visiting relatives, they'd check the blog daily to see what I posted. It's really easy...I had never blogged before. If you need any help, let me know.

Vanessa, Watt...please stay in touch. If you have any questions, we're a friendly bunch and we'll do our best to answer them.