#43637 07-24-2004 09:59 AM | Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 207 Platinum Member (200+ posts) | OP Platinum Member (200+ posts) Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 207 | Hello all. Well it's Saturday and I just finished up week one of round two of my treatments.
I had my first infusion of chemo on Monday morning, then started daily IMRT radiation later that day. I think I came through the week pretty well considering.
I never got sick from the chemo (ha ha -- one victory at least) but spent Tuesday through Thursday pretty darn queasy and basically turned off by the sights and smells of most foods. I was doing good to get some toast down. I'm sure round two of chemo in a couple of weeks will be tougher since my defenses have been shelled pretty good and probably won't be fully recovered by then. Thank you Zofran!
My chemo nurse (who nicknamed me "Moose" because I travel with an entourage of good-luck stuffed mooses) gave me the best description yet of the impact of chemo on the body. She said it was a lot like a tornado. The drugs only stay in your system for a short time (like a twister is only on the ground a short while) but the trail of destruction it leaves behind is what you have to deal with over the days and weeks ahead. Makes sense.
Of course, the hope is that all the cancer cells that may be in me are buried in the rubble, never to rise again. That's what I kept visualizing.
I actually sailed through the radiation pretty well, considering the length of my treatment. I'm on the table for about 50 minutes total. They let me bring in a radio or CD player every day, and that keeps my mind occupied. One day I listened to sports talk radio and heard all the Arizona sports guys ponder where pitcher Randy Johnson will end up next. Probably nowhere.
My CD player actually had it worse than I did on day one. The CD kept sticking and they had to stop my treatments twice to come in and fix it. Oops.
I even manage to close my eyes for long stretches during the treatments. I never did that during the first round, even though that was only about 12 minutes. For some reason, it spooked me to close my eyes before. I kind of approach my daily treatments like a job -- "time to make the doughnuts" so to speak. Time to put in my hour on the table, ho hum...
The best part of the week, other than having my wonderful wife and parents by my side, was getting some PT appointments for my poor shoulder. I've got a great therapist who is working out a lot of the soreness and kinks in a gentle way. I would recommend it to anyone who has had the radical neck dissection and feels like their affected shoulder and arm is dead weight (like mine has felt like the past few weeks).
Of course, it's been inspiring, too, to watch Lance blow past his competitors in the Tour de France. As a former rec cyclist myself, it makes me want to get back on the bike when all this is over. There is a big ride in NC called the Assault on Mt. Mitchell, which is about 115 miles long and ends on the summit of the state's tallest mountain. I always wanted to do this ride when I was in high school and college but never did. I set a goal this week of training for that ride for either next spring or the spring after, and maybe wearing a jersey to commemorate OCF and all of the inspriational head-and-neck cancer battlers I have met here and other places. That would be cool...
Thanks again to all of you for your support, encouragement and prayers. Thanks for listening to my ramblngs and joining the fight with me! Love and peace to all of you...
Eric
Tongue cancer (SCC), diagnosed Oct. 2003 (T2 N0 M0). Surgery to remove tumor. IMRT Radiation 30x in Dec 2003 - Jan. 2004. Recurrence lymph node - radical neck dissection June 2004. Second round of rad/chemo treatments ended Sept. 2004.
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#43638 07-24-2004 12:05 PM | Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 106 Senior Member (100+ posts) | Senior Member (100+ posts) Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 106 | Hi, Eric,
the bike ride sounds like a great idea. When is it? I don't ride a bike, but maybe I could plan to hike up the mountain and meet you on top. I am really out of shape when it comes to mountain climbing, if I don't start training soon, I'll never have that wonderful feeling again.
I am glad you found the treatments bearable. Lots of good wishes, Leena
scc right tonsil T1N1M0, right tonsillectomy + modified neck dissection 3/04, radiation IMRT both sides X33 ended 6/04. Also had renal cell carcinoma, left kidney removed 11/04
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#43639 07-25-2004 03:05 AM | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 372 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 372 | Hey Eric, So glad to hear you came thru great this last week. I have been praying for you as that is a long time on the table! God bless your family and your great attitude! Hang in there! Debbie
Debbie - Caregiver for husband, Dan, diagnosed with tongue cancer 7/03. Partial gloss., mod. neck dissections, graft. Recurrence neck tumor 12/03. Radical left neck dissection 12/24/03-unable to get all the tumor. 8 weeks chemo/rad beginning 1/12/04.
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#43640 07-25-2004 09:10 AM | Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 2,606 Likes: 2 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 2,606 Likes: 2 | Hi Eric,
I am glad you are roaring through this with all your might! In all your rambling, though, you never mentioned what music you were listening to. I was right there on the table next to you, enjoying the vibe and suddenly it stopped because I wasn't sure what to be humming. It was like when I was in college and would meet a new woman. I would think of her, long to ask her out...too shy to even ask her name. Some nights I would dream about her. Just as she looks I softly whisper...HEY YOU! I guess I should have postponed the dream so I could call out her name, huh?
By the way, I was hearing Howard Cossell lambasting Jerry Jones for dumping Emmitt Smith because he was too old and then waiting a couple of years to pick up Eddie George.
Thanks for letting me travel your journey with you. I appreciate the play by play action!
I am hoping and praying the time flies be incredibly fast for you.
Ed
SCC Stage IV, BOT, T2N2bM0 Cisplatin/5FU x 3, 40 days radiation Diagnosis 07/21/03 tx completed 10/08/03 Post Radiation Lower Motor Neuron Syndrome 3/08. Cervical Spinal Stenosis 01/11 Cervical Myelitis 09/12 Thoracic Paraplegia 10/12 Dysautonomia 11/12 Hospice care 09/12-01/13. COPD 01/14 Intermittent CHF 6/15 Feeding tube NPO 03/16 VFI 12/2016 ORN 12/2017 Cardiac Event 06/2018 Bilateral VFI 01/2021 Thoracotomy Bilobectomy 01/2022 Bilateral VFI 05/2022 Total Laryngectomy 01/2023
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#43641 07-25-2004 11:07 AM | Joined: Apr 2004 Posts: 837 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Apr 2004 Posts: 837 | Eric,
Thanks for posting your update. I've got a bunch of those mooses (although I don't carry them around with me!) and now when I see them I'll think of you fighting your way through this. I hope this round really does the job on the cancer.
Cathy
Tongue SCC (T2M0N0), poorly differentiated, diagnosed 3/89, partial glossectomy and neck dissection 4/89, radiation from early June to late August 1989
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#43642 07-25-2004 01:11 PM | Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 | Eric, It sounds like you are doing great! As I wrote earlier, I rode down from the mountain/volcano in Hawaii, which was very easy,(the force of gravity being what it is). However once we got down and had to climb a few easy hills, I realized just out of shape I have become...those little hills had me huffing and puffing and barely making it to the top. I saw quite a few would be Lances riding to the top of the 10,000 foot volcano, but I must say that I prefer riding downhill. I hope that you get back on a bike soon! Hang in there dude.
Danny G.
Stage IV Base of Tongue SCC Diagnosed July 1, 2002, chemo and radiation treatments completed beginning of Sept/02.
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#43643 07-25-2004 02:56 PM | Joined: Apr 2004 Posts: 482 "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (300+ posts) Joined: Apr 2004 Posts: 482 | Eric, Glad to hear your treatments are tolerable. Will be praying for them to be as effective! Hang in there and you'll be up on your bike sooner than you think possible.
Regards, Kirk Georgia Stage IV, T1N2aM0, right tonsil primary, Tonsilectomy 11/03, 35 rad/3cisplatin chemo, right neck dissection 1/04 - 5/04.
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#43644 07-26-2004 06:10 AM | Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 116 Gold Member (100+ posts) | Gold Member (100+ posts) Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 116 | Eric Sounds like you are approaching it with the positive mind which will make it easier for you and it will be more successful too. I found it was easier to close my eyes and when doing easier to focus on the most pleasant memories I could think of which reduced my fears and made it go quicker. So you may want to try that to help you focus.
SCC R-Tonsil T2 NO MO Dec 2003. Completed IMRT Radiation only to tonsils(72Gy) and neck(55Gy)March 04. Detected at age 50.
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#43645 07-30-2004 05:46 PM | Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 207 Platinum Member (200+ posts) | OP Platinum Member (200+ posts) Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 207 | Just a quick update -- week two is now in the books. Things went A LOT better this week in terms of stomach issues, eating, energy levels, etc. I haven't taken a drop of pain medicine or anti-nausea medicine since Sunday night. It feels good, though I still don't have a full appetite yet.
I even went back to work for ahwile midweek. I'm covering a swim meet tomorrow for the newspaper, which should be fun (though I've got to load up on sunscreen and wear my new floppy hat the whole time)...
I should cruise pretty well through next week and then its back to chemo, the second installment...
I've learned a few things this week: 1) radiation techs aren't happy when you're late for appointment by 10-15 minutes... 2) there is nothing you can do or say when THEY are late by 45 minutes... 3) jars of clay's newest CD lasts the exact time my treatment lasts... 4) you can find the big dipper and other constellations on the patterned ceiling if you look real hard... 5) I never want to sneeze when I'm on the table in my mask -- I haven't yet, but I might break something if I ever have to... it's tough enough to stay still when trying to swallow...
Have a great weekend everyone...
Eric
Tongue cancer (SCC), diagnosed Oct. 2003 (T2 N0 M0). Surgery to remove tumor. IMRT Radiation 30x in Dec 2003 - Jan. 2004. Recurrence lymph node - radical neck dissection June 2004. Second round of rad/chemo treatments ended Sept. 2004.
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#43646 08-01-2004 03:04 PM | Joined: Oct 2016 Posts: 284 Gold Member (200+ posts) | Gold Member (200+ posts) Joined: Oct 2016 Posts: 284 | Eric, You have such a great personality. I'm glad you are hanging in there. I've been praying for you too. You are so strong and corageous. Your the same age as my husband and I can't imagine how he would react if he were in your shoes. I'll be keeping you and your family in my prayers.
Hugs, Dani
Originally joined OCF on 12/12/03 as DaniO or Danijams Dani-Mom SCC BOT & floor of mouth surgery-recur then surgery/rads & chemo completed 3/04 surgery 11/06 to remove dead bone & replace jaw w/ leg bone & titanium plate
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#43647 08-02-2004 04:10 AM | Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 382 Likes: 3 Platinum Member (300+ posts) | Platinum Member (300+ posts) Joined: Jul 2003 Posts: 382 Likes: 3 | Eric-
Your comments always bring a smile to my face!! And your courage under fire is inspiring, too! My prayers are with you and I look forward to hearing about the bike ride! - Kris
SCC Stage IV left tonsil neck disection 3/02 radiation finished 6/02 chemo finished 9/02 Stage 2A left breast cancer 3/09, chemo and radiation, finished treatment 2/7/10 -Stage 2 right beast cancer 10/14 chemo and radiation Every day is still a gift :-)
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#43648 08-02-2004 05:21 PM | Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 1,627 Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 1,627 | Hey Eric, Cancer didn't know what it was up against with you did it?? Keep on keeping on.......... Minnie
SCC Left Mandible. Jaw replaced with bone from leg. Neck disection, 37 radiation treatments. Recurrence 8-28-07, stage 2, tongue. One third of tongue removed 10-4-07. 5-23-08 chemo started for tumor behind swallowing passage, Our good friend and much loved OCF member Minnie has been lost to the disease (RIP 10-29-08). We will all miss her greatly.
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#43649 08-04-2004 07:10 AM | Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 | Good luck Eric. You have a great attitude and it sounds like you are handling everything very well. Your comments have me remembering my time on that table under that mask...here's wishing that none of us ever have to go through that again and that your treatments are successful.
Danny G.
Stage IV Base of Tongue SCC Diagnosed July 1, 2002, chemo and radiation treatments completed beginning of Sept/02.
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