Hey Randy/hope your first chemo goes ok. So far so good/nothing to complain about but a headache. Will be taking the anti-nausea drugs for 4 days. Keep in touch

Thinking about you today Randy and wishing you well!

First day went just as nurses had educated us to expect, which was nice. The process was demystified.
Chemo ran long, but I had no discomfort during, just sleepy from the Benadryl. That made my radiation appointment late, so it was a long day. Wife and I walked a mile and a half on the rooftop track at our apartment complex after sundown last night. Appetite was good.
Tummy was OK last night, but awoke at 3 a.m. with a sensation more like heartburn than nausea. Took a Compazine and was glad I did. Next 10 minutes were a bit unsettled, but the medicine and some Hindu chants my sister taught me calmed it down. (I will use any tool that seems sure to not be able to hurt me, like chanting. Millions of people do it and it gives them peace. Serenity prayer is great, too.)
I've had some issues since my intraoral biopsies and tonsillectomy with caffeine headaches. I am drinking less coffee and no soda, so sometimes in the middle of the night, I get that dull ache. Half a cup seems to fix it.
Other issue: The taste buds at the back of my tongue suddenly enlarged about 10 days ago. Dentists and oncology nurses aren't sure why. Doesn't hurt, but it's weird. Anyone heard of that post tonsillectomy or associated with this cancer? If you're going to say it can be a sign of lung cancer, please say nothing at all. I read that in one reference on the Internet, and I am choosing to wait and see what the treatment team says before I freak out about that. My PET was clear in June other than two tiny nodules in the chest area that all the docs say are quite common and likely not a sign of metatastis but that we'll have to watch going forward.
I just got back from a predawn, very slow, 3-mile jog. Highlight of my last 24 hours.

Hello Randy:
Not sure what you mean by "The taste buds at the back of my tongue suddenly enlarged about 10 days ago." Do you mean your tongue/throat swelled or something like that? I know my taste buds went berserk during and after treatments, and still are messed up, but what mine is the crazy tastes/mucus I have all the time, still. If the oncology nurse didn't react to what you told her, it probably is caused from the tonsillectomy, but I would tell my oncologist and get his/her opinion. Having a clear PET in June is a plus, so hopefully the taste issue will diminish soon. Good luck.
Julieann

ENT says it is a reaction to the biopsies he took from the base of my tongue during the tonsillectomy, and it will pass with time. My sense of taste isn't affected yet (only two radiation treatments done). It's just that the taste buds enlarged, stood up like Devil's Towers rising from the back of my tongue. Weird.

After three days (one chemo, three rads), I feel groggy when I wake up. I'm not fatigued at all, but I'm led to believe I shouldn't be yet.
I had more heartburn than usual, easily controlled with Compazine. I was hypervigilant about nausea, so I may have taken one more Compazine than I really needed. That was all over yesterday; felt fine today.
I ran (slowly) 6 miles this morning, I'm sure the longest run I will do for some months. I felt my best after 3 miles, after I settled into the slower-than-normal pace. I hear the wise advice about not overdoing exercise and taxing the body. The oncology nurses told me it's a fine line. Stay as active as you can, but when you hit the wall, don't try to push through it. You're done. And ever since I started running, the best I often feel all day is during and right after a run. I expect to settle into a walk/jog routine; walk a lap, jog a lap; and stick with that for as long as I can.
Got a massage this afternoon and picked up my new Panama hat to help keep the sun off of me. Just because I have cancer doesn't mean I have to look goofy. It's a snazzy hat.
We went to the Tigers-Blue Jays game tonight. Had a cheeseburger AND a hot dog. I mentally scanned how I felt, and for those few hours of the game, I felt completely normal, not at all like a cancer patient. I'm savoring those moments, because I know I don't get to have many of them now for several weeks.