I had 8 weeks rads with the 3-bagger of Cisplatin. The Cisplatin kicked my butt everyway but loose. I lost 38 lbs in less than 90 days.

But - I drove myself to the hospital every day, even though I had to be very alert, looking for a place to pull over and call for my cousin, RALPH, if I ever went over that thin line between feeling like I'll lose it and actually losing it. Oddly, I never lost it on that drive, despite the fact that it was 24 miles each way.

I've experienced neuropathy with every bout of every form of chemo I had. I was warned to be alert to tingling in my toes or fingers and never experienced that. HOWEVER, I did get some dandy neuropathy in my toes, only because it feels like my toes are being crushed by a shoe that's too small, that's what I thought was going on. Surprise! It's annoying, but not the end of life as we know it.

As an old cannon-cocker and paratrooper, I'd lost a good deal of hearing range already. My tinnitus is always (still) around, but it comes in handy at night because when I tune it IN, it sounds like sitting at the edge of a clearing in a forest, complete with katydids, tree-frogs and crickets. Very relaxing!

Black clouds and silver linings, eh?

I've had some loss of fine resolution of feeling in my fingertips, but it's minor. Still, I have to be careful about holding folding money and trying to carry on a conversation, the paper slips out when I'm not concentrating on it, and I never know it.

So far, no damage to my "grin" muscles, thoug...


My intro: http://oralcancersupport.org/forums/ubbt...3644#Post163644

09/09 - Dx OC Stg IV
10/09 - Chemo/3 Cisplatin, 40 rad
11/09 - PET CLEAN
07/11 - Dx Stage IV C. (Liver)
06/12 - PET CLEAN
09/12 - PET Dist Met (Liver)
04/13 - PET CLEAN
06/13 - PET Dist Met (Liver + 1 lymph node)
10/13 - PET - Xeloda ineffective
11/13 - Liver packed w/ SIRI-Spheres
02/14 - PET - Siri-Spheres effective, 4cm tumor in lymph-node
03/15 - Begin 15 Rads
03/24 - Final Rad! Woot!
7/27/14 Bart passed away. RIP!