10th Treatment and Doctor's Appt.

Had my 10th treatment this morning along with a pretty good doctor's appointment. Dr. Sinesi seemed to be very pleased with my progress so far and thinks I'm doing better than expected with the radiation treatment. Side effects are coming on much stronger now. My saliva is getting very thick and sticky causing me to now have to rinse several times a day with the Biotene mouthwash. I woke up this morning with a very sore throat. It seems to get better during the day, but is still sore. I'm also developing some sores in my mouth and it's hard/difficult for me to open my mouth wide.
Food is now having it's familiar nasty taste:( Had turkey for dinner last night which tasted like cardboard and lunch today wasn't much better.
Dr. Sinesi said that all these side effects are normal and to be expected.
Fortunately we have lots of stuff to combat this dry mouth stuff...nothing works perfect, but at least what we have seems to work a little bit. Dr. Sinesi said that if things get too bad and I cannot get any relief, to let him know so he can prescribe me something different.
Other than that, things are going ok. I'm just trying to cope with this mess I'm in.
That's about it for now...more to follow next week.

7th and 8th treatment

Finished with radiation treatments 7 and 8 and and the 2nd chemo... still hanging in there pretty good. Not really experiencing too many side effects as of yet except for the start of dry mouth. I'm getting kind of a weird taste in my mouth and every once in a while I'm getting this thick saliva stuff going on. I've been trying different things to combat it and so far have had pretty good luck. Found out that sugarless lemon drops work. Biotene mouthwash works and Marjie made up a concoction of water, salt and baking soda for me to swish when needed. Haven't tried that yet, but will when needed.

I talked to the radiation therapists again today about the side effects and they all said that anything I was experiencing now was probably from that very first radiation treatment. They reiterated again today that usually about the 10 session or 3-4th week is when the side effects really kick in. They keep advising to drink lots of water, keep the lotion on my neck, not to worry too much and when shit hits the fan, use the feeding tube! I guess I keep asking them questions because I want to hear "Hey Dave, you're doing great and it's looking like you might not get all these side effects after all"...but what I keep hearing is "Stand-by for heavy rolls"....

After the radiation today, we headed over to the Oncologist for my Chemotherapy. Before the chemo, we saw Dr. Atienza and got to discuss how things were going and then he got to check me out and ensure I was doing okay. He seems to think I'm doing fine and said we need to press on. He also mentioned that my scans from a month ago were clear and he's pretty confident I'll be able to kick this cancer's butt. I also talked about the side effects and the nausea I have been experiencing this past week. He prescribed me a new anti-nausea medication, Compazine, to try. The Phenegan, he originally prescribed for nausea, really knocked me out when I took it - not a side effect I particularly want. He again said to stand-by for heavy rolls and that side effects and the use of the feeding tube are just around the corner.

After my appointment with the doctor, we headed back to the chemo room to get my drugs. Boy oh boy was that place full today. Every chair in the house was taken and everyone was getting their chemo. The chemo process was normal and took about an hour or so to get it. They started with the anti-nausea bag first and then to the Carboplatin....nothing interesting about that.....talked to Sarah, (my nurse), about what was going on and she basically said the same thing. She said she has another patient that is going through the same thing as me except for he's about 2 weeks ahead of me and apparently he just started using his feeding tube. She said when he was in today, he was complaining of sore throat, difficulty eating and talking with a scratchy voice.

So just to keep everything straight - my current meds/ointments are:
- Carboplatin: Chemotherapy drug - once a week
Along with Kytril for nausea prevention as well.
- Salagen: to increase saliva production / 5 mg / 3 times a day
- Prilosec: to keep my stomach in check / 20 mg / once a day
- Compazine: for nausea / 10mg / every 8 hours
- Multivitamin: currently taking One-A-Day for Men
- Juven: therapeutic Nutrition drink mix / 1 packet twice a day
- XClair: to aid in my skin recover / rub on neck area three times a day
Marjie is having a blast keeping all of this straight.

So what I learned today is that no matter how good I feel now, and how much I want to continue feeling good, nobody out there thinks I'm exempt from what is coming.
They all do stress that each person is different, and everyone handles things differently, to keep up with my fluids and diet not to worry so much.
One day at a time!
Easy to say I say!

I am taking things one day at a time and I will beat this!

Thanks to everyone out there that's been sending me cards, letters and emails of support. I really appreciate them and believe it or not, they actually make me feel better.

2nd Week, 6th Treatment

Had a pretty good weekend and it was sure nice getting a break from the radiation treatment for a couple days. Only bad thing was that I began getting that old familiar nausea feeling Friday afternoon and it hung around most of the weekend. Seems as if it hits me more in the evening, but it was there Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. Didn't throw up or anything, just had an upset stomach and the feeling like I wanted to throw up. Marjie gave me some anti-nausea medicine Sunday afternoon, but it didn't work at all. I spent the entire evening laying down on the couch drinking water and not wanting to eat anything.
I'm also beginning to notice that food is not tasting as it should and I'm starting to get this nasty taste in my mouth every once in a while.

Woke up this morning and the nausea feeling was gone. Yahoo! Drank lots fluid and by the time of my appointment, I was really noticing a thick kind of spit beginning to form in my mouth. Kept drinking water and that seemed to have helped. The treatment went very good today, basically because they didn't have to take any films (CT Scans), and that made the entire time on the table about 25 minutes. Apparently, this week will be nothing but radiation and no films. After the treatment, Marjie and I went to the commissary for groceries and since then haven't had a problem with my mouth for the rest of the day. Felt a little nauseated at the store, but that has all but subsided. I figure the nausea was probably caused by the chemo I got last Wednesday, so I should be okay until at least this coming Friday.

I had been experiencing some swelling in the legs and arms accompanied with sore muscles a few weeks ago. This had been going on for about a month when I finally went to the doctors about it. The Oncologist didn't think it was a side effect from the chemo and since I hadn't started with radiation I decided to see my primary care doctor. After a blood and urine test, and both of them being fine, she referred me to a cardiologist. It's taken about 2 weeks to get the referral and the problem with the swelling and sore muscles have all but cleared up. I guess the reason they want me to see a cardiologist is because they want to rule out anything with my heart that could have been caused by the chemo. Tomorrow is the appointment so I should have more to say about this later.

That's about it for now...as I sit and type this I'm actually feeling pretty good. Just ate dinner and everything tastes ok. Mouth and throat feel good and I really don't have any complaints at this time.

More to follow in the saga!