Dan, I add my welcome. You sound like a very brave guy and I'm confident you'll come through your upcoming ordeal. When I started to read your post I felt as though I were reading about myself at that point - more or less the same age, and same height and weight!

There are some significant differences though. I had an unknown primary and a neck dissection, and no chemo.

With those provisos in mind I can only tell you about my own experience. I would not have been able to travel in the couple of months after the end of treatment. I made my first plane trip about 3 months out. OTOH, I know someone in florida who just finished a course of treatment like yours - chemorads and no surgery - and he was stage IV BOT. His brother tells me that he's back working part time 3 weeks after the end of treatment, and they've been out to lunch and dinner.

All of which says that each of us is different. If possible, play it as it goes. You'll have a much better sense a couple of weeks in.

Also: I was one of those people who didn't get a PEG. And wish I had. So I think you're doing the right thing. Getting it early as Maria suggests sounds like a wise choice to me. If you do go to the weddings - and I surely hope you'll be able to - having a place to lie down nearby as Klo recommends is a good idea too.

We're all pulling for you and are here to help.

In response to Charm and TSA... I have never had an issue at all going thru the airport checkpoints. I carry on cans of formula, syringes, several bottles of different medications, cans of peaches, bottles of water and my feeding bags and pump plus a purse and laptop. I cant raise my arm over my head to put it in the circles. I just tell the TSA people that everything Im carrying is medically necessary and that I have a feeding tube. Once I had a open cup full of sliced peaches and went thru without a problem. Thanks for being nice Charm but my days of being pretty are a long long time ago before I got sick. It took me a while, but Ive adapted to being disfigured and Im ok with it since it means Im still around.



Dan, I really hope you are able to sail right thru all of yoru treatments. Im sure your children's weddings are very very important events for you to attend. It might be the inspiration you need to push yourself to get thru your treatments. Everybody needs something to look forward to in life and this might be what it takes for you. One big advantage you have is that you have found OCF before you have started. You will have our help to guide you thru this. Try your very best to bulk up now. Eat as much as you can and then go back and have seconds No worries about gaining weight.

Charm, brotha...you don't SELL comics dude, unless they are a lame title, which I don't see you buying!?! Quick fact, I used to pencil my own comic.

To echo Charms post I lost a total of 70lbs, 35 during rads/chemo and another 35 after the mandiblectomy, even with the peg. Just focus on sucking down calories and keeping hydrated either w or without the peg.

These forums are a lot like a family actually, I think of us that way, as a family we can get into spats. Charm and I have had threads shut down due to difference of opinion ( hahaha!!) Yet there is always respect and love.

Anyway Dan-O you're getting the picture, take it as it comes but keep your eyes on your goal. Good luck brotha.

Eric

Dan

Not to hijack your thread, but I HAVE to reply here.
Christine, I have seen you and you are still pretty, your inner Beauty radiates and your external beauty isn't bad either. But I get it. I disregard all those who tell me that my speech is fine because I know I don't sound like I used to. I remember the pictures you showed my wife and I of how you looked before the cancer, so I understand your feelings. On the TSA issue, I think your personality also goes a long way to your sailing through.
Eric, it turns out Doctor Strange was not the most valuable collectible choice especially when they are dogeared from multiple readings. I don't want them in the dumpster when I die, and this way others will enjoy them. I'm only getting about 25 cents a comic which works out to about $4 an hour on sorting and entering them.

Back to you Dan: Why not plan on walking down the aisle with your daughter? If it turns out you can't, then that's that. But Cancer takes so much away from us, and many studies (not enough to earn the OCF website imprimatur) show that HOPE and a GOAL can and do make a difference in getting through this. Brian knows this intuitively which is one of many reasons he runs the world's best support group for oral cancer patients.
Focus on that now, and while I hate all the new age "Secret" crap, visualization does seem to help. Don't give up before you even begin to fight. I exercised the first month of radiation at the gym and it made a real difference in my recovery. You can always punt if the radiation doesn't let you travel, but again, I think it is doable. Last but not least, ask your doctors if any of their patients recovery would have allowed the two hour airplane trip.
Keep the Faith
Charm

Hi Dan,

Welcome to OCF. I am quite sure that you will not only be able to travel but also help organize both the weddings. Radiation can be physically draining but your determination will help you get through. In my honest opinion, do not delay the treatment.

My father had 33 cycles of radiotherapy (~60 Gy) with weekly Cisplatin. He did not have PEG and maintained his weight all along (just lost some 12 Pounds). He used to drink lot of water and eat whatever he could swallow (with sip of water). He used to drive car himself to closest metro station (4 miles) and then take up train to hospital (15 miles) and back.

Tail-end of the treatment was difficult but then when you see that it is ending, you somehow get the energy. Flying should not be an issue but you may stuffy or painful ears after the flight.

My advice:

- Avoid sun
- Drink lot of water, if you get Coconut water in your area, drink plenty.
- Avoid caffeine, acidic/citrus stuff
- exercise regularly (Yoga may help) and be positive!

Take care and hope to hear from you more, especially about the wedding plans.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I start treatment on Monday Aug. 22. My daughter was able to move her wedding to March 2012 and that will relieve the pressure of that one. I will be at the end of week 3 of Tx for my son's wedding on Sept. 10 and will get the second dose of Cisplatin after I return from that one. During my Tx I hope I can be of help to anyone who is beginning the process.

Hi, Dan - this timing sounds a lot better! My crystal ball says ... you will be dancing at both weddings!

Thanks Maria! Glad to see that your husband is all clear on his last PET.

Dan, best wishes with your upcoming treatments!!! Try your very best to eat as much as you can to bulk up before you start next week.

Im so glad to hear your daughter has pushed her date back til next March. That date has a much better chance that you will be in good shape. You will need to be recovered to not just walk down the aisle but also to dance the father/daughter dance. You should be ok for your son's wedding. Most of us started feeling all the effects of treatment around week 4 or after that second big dose of chemo. You should be one proud poppa!!!!

When you have time, please add a signature line so we can easier help you with questions as you go thru your treatments. Click on the "My Stuff" tab, then click on 'profile'. Scroll to the bottom and type your info in the white box on the bottom. Dont worry about making it anything fancy or technical. Write what you feel is important. Take a look at others signatures and use that as your guide.

Hi there....I know you started radiation now...congrats to your kiddos for weddings.

Like others have said...everyone reacts differently. Most say that stuff doesn't get affected till week 4....but there are a lucky few...like me, lol....who get "fun things" started at about 4th treatment. Everyone is different....and sometimes no matter how hard you try...you need the peg and have no choice.

You can't always control what you will experience and what you wont. Just try your best and I am sure they will understand.

I hope you get to go. I am not sure about traveling, but I know for me, the last 2 weeks of radiation, I could barely tolerate the car ride to treatments, otherwise was on the couch the rest of the day...but I was having issues with peg tube and not getting enough fluids or nourishment, so it may have been different if I was able to get adequate calories and nutrients in.

Hope you get to make it, if not...they will understand, they are your children. Maybe make a recording ahead of time just in case that can be played if you aren't able to be there for them. But I would think having something that exciting will give you something to push for, but like i said, you can't always control what happens to you, no matter what you do! I will keep you in my thoughts and hope you get to go!