Hello Mark:

I am the Tony referred to by Christine in last post. Yes, I was incredibly fortunate to go through treatment with very few side effects. Others on the forum have been on the opposite end of the spectrum and had a really rough time of it. Where will you fit in to that spectrum, who knows, everyone is different. Here's hoping you end up on the easy end.

No matter what happens, your new family is here for you every step of the way. That's just what we do, offering support when you need it and technical information when you need that too. Though we are not doctors and can't offer actual medical advice, we can and will tell you how it went for us. Just knowing that is often helpful to the new patient in treatment. It will be rough at times, but because all of us made it through, I have no doubt you will too, especially if you can keep a positive attitude about what you are going through, and try to keep doing the same things you did before treatment started. Whatever you do, don't resign yourself to a low energy existence in between treatments. I am a dancer and I danced all the way through treatment; most people didn't even know I had cancer (until I told them). I also play bridge and fly radio control model airplanes, both things that I never gave up during treatment.

You will lose some weight during treatment, so it is very important you eat, eat, eat. Eat way more than you think you need. You will be glad you did later when the side effects start showing up. It's very possible for your mouth and throat to feel so bad that you don't want to eat or drink anything. I'm through with treatment (last Friday), but still have absolutely no appetite. I could easily go all day without eating, but eat we must. If you don't you will get dehydrated and malnourished and they WILL put you in the hospital if necessary. You don't want that, so eat now, eat lots and then eat some more. Don't worry, you won't gain a pound, you'll just lose less in the future. I lost about 30 pounds in two months, that's pretty drastic. But I was easily 30-40 pounds overweight, so I had it to lose. If you are already skinny then weight control will be even more important for you.

Okay, I've said enough. Get that spiral notebook Christine mentioned and start writing down your list of questions for the RO, the MO, the nurses, the forum members. You will be glad you did because you have a very steep learning curve to climb right now. Get organized and it will go much smoother. Ask us when you need too. If you want to see how the whole process went for me, my two threads are mentioned in my signature. Next week I will start an Immediate Post Treatment thread.

Welcome to the family brother. We will help you get through this.

Tony