Glad to hear you had a fairly easy week. I hope all the rest are just as good. It sure seems like they have a good approach.

Hang in there.

Hi Anne,
Glad to hear this week wasn't too bad. Just something I notoced you said at the beginnig, that your sknin was a bit sore. It will probably get much worse, and make sure you moisturise the neck area. We were prescribed generic aqueous cream. I had a giant pot and used to lay it very thickly 1/4 inch thick on his neck and we had a thin cotton scarf given by the nurses and wrap his neck in it. I did that at night before bed and after the radiation (we had to rinse it off before the radiation). It worked miracles, his skin didn't blister. It did get very smelly but one day in the shower the moisturised dead layer of smelly skin fell off and there was new link skin underneath. So moisturise a lot.
As for the constipation Martin says it feels like he gives birth to an arm but he has been prescrived Latilose and it lubricates and helps, he says.
Good luck.
Cecilia

Thanks for your post Cecilia. Made me realize I needed to update.

So I am now at the half-way point of my treatment (well I will be after the radiation treatment on Monday). It does feel good to say half-way done, but I am aware that this was probably the easier half, though maybe not psychologically speaking, at least for me.

Radiation: I am finding a little bit of mucositis. I guess it is not troubling me more because I have saliva from my parotids. I did not realize this until recently (duh, I know) that they would be able to spare them. That is pretty exciting to me. I almost hate to mention it here because I know that lack of saliva is devastating to folks, although all of us cope with our own set of problems, and some do that quite well. I am guessing this happened because my oral under the tongue lesion was so small, and they went in the second time and took extra wide margins, finding no cancer. My mouth is still somewhat dry especially in the morning (my submandibular glands are gone), and I have to drink water to wash down my food, and it takes me an incredibly long time to eat. The mucositis is on part of my soft palate, and especially on the inside of my chin, if that makes sense, and I also have a spot that I feel when I swallow.
Not complaining, just reporting . . .

I am certainly coping with chemo much better, now that I know more what to expect from each and every medication. If I take Zofran I can get rid of my nausea and feel decent.

My MO is refering me to a speech pathologist because I have such tightness when I swallow (yet I can swallow). I probably need a little work on my enunciation as well. When I talk to my husband it is always, "what did you say," and part of that is that we think he is losing some hearing besides my slurred speech. Yeh, getting old.

I am slightly anemic and they have me on an iron pill; good news though as my hemoglobin and hematocrit go up each week.

My outlook on my disease has improved considerably. I finally realized I could not affect it one bit, except perhaps negatively, by worrying. When I got rid of that baggage, not exactly all by my own doing, my blood pressure and heart rate went down! As a result of that, I noticed I felt better in general.

I am using acquafor on my neck, which is taking the largest hit from radiation, and also on other spots on my face. Everyone here thinks I spend a lot of time on it, and I don't. So I don't know what's up with that. Maybe something about my skin?
I do tan easily without trying (I'm past those days)and seldom burn.

All in all, at this point I can't complain. Next week will unfold with possibly some new problems, but I am not going to play the anticipation game anymore, so I'll leave it there.

For those of you who know Jim Beers through this board, I had a fun text conversation with him, as I noticed he had an almost identical situation as mine. Made me feel great to communicate with someone who was doing well 2 years post treatment.

Best,
Anne

Hi Anne,

Just checking up on you. Sounds like you are doing great both medically and mentally. That's such great news.

Looking forward to some more upbeat posts.

Anne, keep up the positive attitude! Your 1/2 way finished, yea! Glad you connected with Jim Beers. Its always nice to meet others like yourself. Especially those who are a couple years out and doing great! Take it day by day, let the count down begin.

Christine,
Thanks! You are always so helpful and positive. It is hard to take it day by day (I always want to look ahead) but you are right it is the best way.
Anne

Thanks, Jerry! Nice to hear from you. There are a few "speed bumps" along the way, but it will be really good to say next Monday that I am 2/3 done (not to look ahead, but it crept into my mind just now).
Anne

Hi Anne-
I haven't been on here in a while, and it is great to see that you are doing so well.

I actually was able to return to work this past Tuesday. My RO is only letting me do six hour shifts for now instead of the usualy twelve. My coworkers and managers have been great in working with me-- in order for me to do six hour shifts someone else has to either change their schedule or do an extra six hours (I am embarrassed at this point to even admit I am a nurse after reading about some of the horrible nursing care others have been receiving-- it just makes me sick-- IMO, nursing schools today spend way too much time on nursing theories and other nonsense instead of patient care, critical thinking, and prioritizing!). Anyway, I felt like I was ready to jump right back in to my 12 hour shifts, but have to admit I came home pretty wiped out after the two six hour shifts I did this week. At least it was a start!

I hope you continue to do well!!
Susan

hoi

hi