Just to let everyone know, I have 5 weeks down and 3 more to go. What a difference a week makes. I now have a lot of sores in my mouth and my voice sounds like the manager of Rocky [Burgess Merdith I think].
The Rad Dr gave me a script for some type of gel that will help with the mouth pain and sores.
I am now eating about 1500 calories a day by mouth and still drinking a lot of water.
I am still working and plan to until 6/17/2009.
Once again, thanks to all who share their journeys, it makes it easier[if easier is the right word] to travel mine.
Bye for now, I'll keep you all posted as I near the "end of the tunnel".

You need more calories each and every day or you are walking into a minefield.

I have lost 15 lbs. and my dr. seems to think I will be fine. What kind of mind field? I don't understand what you mean.

I think you misread "minefield" as "mind field." I bet he's referring to risk of dehydration, greater difficulty healing and maintaining your strength. Curious--did you ever get the PEG tube? John's scheduled for middle of next week...was day 8 of treatment today.

Not yet. The doctors are still taking a wait and see approach. They are saying that since I only lost 15 lbs so far, I may make it through without a peg since I only have 3 weeks left.
Believe me when I feel myself getting weak, if the Drs. don't talk about the peg, I will. Right now I feel fine except the mouth and throat issues. As if they are not enough to deal with!
Your right the other posting did say minefield, still wandering what that means?
Good luck to both John and you on your journey.

WFC

The worst of treatmetns are yet to come. Sounds like you are doing a great job at hanging in there thru this so far. Im hoping you continue to get thru this so successfully. From here out, the next weeks will be increasingly more difficult for you.

Right now you should be upping your calories and water consumption. While going thru treatments 2500+ calories and 64oz water are minimum. This high amount should continue thru til you are a couple months post treatment. Your body needs extra calories to fight this and heal. At one point I was consuming at least 5000 calories per day. Some days was over 7500 and I still didnt gain an ounce.

Best of luck.

What I mean or meant is that I personally don't think you should only ingest 1500 cals a day. That may be enough for you under normal conditions but your body is under attack from the cancer and the effects of the Tx so it needs more "fuel" right now. If you continue to loose weight which is a strong possibility since the worst part of the Tx's effects are probably still to come then the minefield I am talking about is what happens to your body as you loose weight, i.e., (and not necessarily in this order) weakness, constipation and nausea all of which kind of snowball and feed on each other all to your determent. Believe me I KNOW.

I would target 2500 to 3000 cals and 48ozs of water each and every day until you are at least a month or so post radiation.

JM2C's

wfc,

Are you working with a nutritionist? I found mine to be a great source of food support during treatment and I highly recommend you ask for a referral if you don't have one. Knowing how many calories, and protein, your body requires is incredibly helpful. I was on around 2100 cal/day and didn't lose any weight during treatment which was a good thing.

- Margaret

WFC, I agree with David you will need somewhere between 2500-3000 cals as minuim now. I like some did this without a PEG and the last 2weeks I drank 4000 cals aday just to maintane my weight. I saw a nutritionist every week until 2 months post TX, as she was part of my team. Good luck. Semper-Fi Bob

wfc

both literally and metaphorically, David's use of minefield is clever: first, the good old Miriam webster Dictionary definition of minefield: : "something resembling a minefield especially in having many dangers or requiring extreme caution for example: a political minefield." applies to this period of your TX. And on a more poetic level: one false step here buddy and you can kiss your a** goodbye

then again, some can just blithely skip thru a minefield unharmed. Here's hoping you are in this latter category. Keep vigilant and stay strong. I could not force down more than 2000 calories without the PEG and I made it through the first time. And watch your step
charm

Some poetic level....kiss our asses goodbye!!! lol

Kiss you ass good-bye as in dying?
You guys are making me so afraid of the next three weeks, I think I may not visit until I am finished with treatment and just check in then! WOW!

Look we don't want to make anyone afraid of the Tx but we do want them to just expect that anything might happen and just be prepared. From my experience on this site only a small percentage slide thru this Tx with ease and likewise only a small percentage have a really really tough time but the vast majority of us start to quickly go down hill around the 4th week and emerge from our dark tunnel about the 3rd week post Tx. During those 6 to 7 weeks you just need to make sure you stay on top of everything, calories, hydration, meds and any problem that arises as soon as it does. All of us here today survived the Tx and we're not super humans but knowing what may lie ahead is better than walking into a storm unprepared.

I agree it is nice to know what might lie ahead but don't you think using "kiss your a** goodbye" is a little strong or at the least a little un-called for? I'm just wondering how many other "new" people on this site got that message, and if they did what did that do to their mental capacity in this game? I am trying to get good advice and also am trying hard, very hard to keep a good mental attitude throughout this entire journey, and that little phrase just shook me! Maybe it's me being a little "thin skinned" due to where I am at in this process. Who knows????????????????????

It is definitely easier to be more loose about the treatment once you went through this. While the remark taken as such is a bit strange please look how it came about.
It started with the mine field, which sought to convey the message that you might get a surprise and cannot a priori predict how you are going to react. Which is, in a way, an apt description. After that the boys had fun with the mine field analogy.
It personally helped me to know what MIGHT be ahead.
Just imagine what you feel like if you assume that once the rads are over you are as good as new. For the large majority this is not the case and at least for me the week after the rads were over was most miserable/memorable.

Best

M

Markus,

As I said, I think knowing what to expect is great. I was just having an off day. At any other time in my life I would have thought the KYAG, would have been funny. I am very tense about the next three weeks of treatment and what lies ahead. I certainly understand that my sense of humor has changed a little and I can, at times, be pouncy and over reactive.If you don't believe me, just ask my wife.
I DO want to be careful in the next couple of weeks and I will.
Thanks!

wfc,

I think your reaction was completely warranted!

And to Charm and the others...C'mon Guys!! 'Kiss your ass goodbye??' If someone had said that to you in the middle of your treatment, do you honestly think that would have been helpful?? Try to remember, a little empathy goes a long way.

- Margaret

I had no peg either and ate while I could which really was n't long, becaue I was treated very agressivley thruout everything, I went from 220 dont to mid 140s. I am still only back up to 163. As for water, I still put down about 8 bottles of spring water a day. Some days more.

Margaret,

Thank You! That's all I was trying to say.
It is time for all of to let this go, I already have!!!!!!!

Margaret, you couldn't have said that better LOL Sounded just like me and I loved it.

Good plan, wfc. Good plan.

And do ask about a nutritionist, if you haven't already. I made it through rads & chemo without losing any weight at all. I did lose when I switched from the cans to real food, but that's just because I got stubborn and refused to use the PEG at a certain point.

- Margaret

wfc,

When my husband was in treatment, I kept a daily blog of our journey. I just took a look at the blog to see how Dan was faring at the end of week 5. And, I wanted to pass on some encouraging words that you are doing a gazillion times better than he was at the same point in treatment.

I'm impressed that you are still working and posting here on the boards. You are proof to me that every individual has their own experiences through this crazy journey. Wishing you the best as you continue through these next few weeks!

Margaret in WI. :-)