OK Geri,

I know there are guidelines for treatment protocols depending on staging as Margaret mentioned. But the treatments still vary depending on the facility, doc, etc. It drove me crazy trying to make a decision as my research went several directions. Ultimately, I had to trust Bill's doctor to do the right thing.

Major hurtle...getting thru that first day. Now you can just go into "auto mode" 'cause that is what the next few weeks will require. Unless the chemo throws him a curve in the next day or two, Richard should be relatively OK for a week or two. I know I kept asking when the bad side effects would start showing because Bill was still eating and working during that time. The throat pain, fatigue, and crazily enough, hiccups came on suddenly in week three and Bill was on supplement thru his PEG exclusively by the middle of that week. I found myself just focusing on taking care of him...making sure he was getting enough calories and fluids (and swallowing a bottle of Gatorade Rain) each day. So we just went on routine...PEG feeding + water, radiation treatment, meds, feeding, feeding, radiation treatment (he was getting 2 a day), feeding, meds...you get the picture....one day at a time...checking off the calendar. It became a sort of a blur so I charted his food and water intake each day striving to reach the goal.

One of the main symptoms...fatigue masked what turned out to be emergent...at week 6, Bill started sleeping excessively. I had to wake him to go to treatment and to feed, but otherwise he was asleep. This went on for a day and 1/2 before I realized he was running a fever severe enough to do what we had been instructed to do...call the doctor. Please be aware of this and check Richard's temp if anything seems "off." Bill's blood counts were very low the last couple of weeks and he had developed an infection that required hospitalization for a few days. After he got out and finished his last 3 treatments, he hit the ground running and did not have the after effects that so many here have...I'm not sure what to attribute that to...his toughness, the extra hydration he received in the hospital, the antibiotics that cured the unknown infection...???? He was off the pain meds the next week and started eating almost immediately...maybe divine intervention but welcomed.

Hope this gives you some hope...you will get to the end of this.

Deb