Finally - down to only one treatment left.

Well here it is Tuesday evening, and we are looking at the last radiation and chemo treatment tomorrow. And the bottom line is that Dave is miserable. He is trying not to talk, his neck is extremely sore - inside and out -, and he desperately wants to feel better. Tomorrow we will see Dr. Sinesi (radiation oncologist) and I think the biggest concern that I have is the fact that Dave is unable to swallow or get anything down his throat.

We got a call from the American Cancer Society nutritionist today, and since Dave is down about 7 pounds since we talked to her a month ago, she wants us to increase the Ensure to at least 4 cans per day - preferably 5. Dave is taking on three right now. Other than that he is doing pretty good on keeping his fluid consumption up and he is still trying to walk and move about to keep his body somewhat active and his muscles engaged.
Speaking of muscles engaged - I think some of the problem with Dave being unable to swallow is that was getting into the habit of not swallowing unless absolutely necessary (the 4 times a day needed to take his pills) , primarily due to the fact that his throat really hurt - swallowing razor blades is how he described it. Like I said we will see the doctor tomorrow and we'll have a better idea of what is going on with that. We also have an appoint with his gastronomical doctor next week, so there is another avenue for thoughts. But as it is right now - everything is crushed up and fed through the tube - Dave is very proficient at feeding himself with the tube - pretty much he puts something in the tube every two hours or so.

Other areas is that the sprinkler system is now in and it is now up to me to get our yard in order. With all the work that we had done over the past couple of months, the yard is not looking like the typical Vigal yard - just a lot of dirt among the grass, no flowers, weeds, and the sprinkler system left some high spots in the yard. So David and I have our work cut out for us, time to get the mower out, visit the local nursery, and get our hands dirty.

Well I've bounced around to a lot of topics. We are surviving this, nerves have been stretched, tempers have flared, and alternatives and comprises abound. Each day is different and each struggle only makes us stronger - I will be so glad when all of this is in the rear view mirror. Thanks for all the support.