Just an update here:
I have 10 more treatments to go, which means after tomorrow, I've reached the single digits! My neck has gotten really red this week and is getting noticeably dryer, so I'm slopping on the Aquaphor every chance I get. I've only got two mouth ulcers, which hardly bother me, so I'm not taking any pain meds yet. I've started taking Robitussin for that stringy nasty saliva nonsense, and it's been a huge help. I've slept through the night both nights that I have taken it! And it has helped to keep me from gagging during treatments. That wretched mouth piece does not mix with thick saliva and laying on your back! My MO said that he wished everyone could be doing as well as I seem to be, but I quickly informed him that everyone would have to be 23 when they get cancer, and that would be horrible!
Now that I'm getting to the end of treatments, everyone has advice for what I should do to keep from getting cancer again, and it makes me laugh. I hear about new fancy cancer "cures" on pretty much a daily basis. Maybe there's a little something to some of them, but I'm more apt to believe that if God has it planned for me to get cancer again, He won't care if I eat green beans or cake, so as soon as I can taste cake / sweets again, I'm chowing down!
Jim- don't worry about it, my chemo nurse always calls me Mr. Bradley. Apparently my entire name doesn't fit on the sheet she looks at so it says Stephan, and as soon as she says it, she gets mad at herself because she knows better!
Sue- I hardly ever drank coke, so I don't think that's the missing link. I started to right before my surgery to combat the drowsiness from the pain pills I was on. My ENT just thinks I have a weak immune system for some reason (obviously, I got cancer, right?) and I, like you, just think I got the short stick in the draw.
Larry - 1984 was definitely before I was born!!! EEK!
Paula - Nice to see another fellow Louisianian!!
Brian - I continuously hope that something good will come out of my cancer. When I was first diagnosed, I was told by a family friend (and cancer survivor), not to waste my cancer, and I've tried to make the most of it. You can add my name to the list of young'uns and hopefully something good will come out of that study!
