The six-week course of chemoradiotherapy treatment has begun... And it's, So far so good :-)
Which still leaves -- of course -- room for comments:
My chemotherapy pills are to be taken "on an empty stomach (not fasting -- in between meals OK)". What does that mean? I take it before breakfast... that is, before I *break my fast*... Does that, "not fasting" mean that I can take a pill -- and still have something to eat? Not sure...
There's another tablet to be taken half-an-hour before the chemo tablet. Then a whole bundle of pills half an hour later, with breakfast. Which adds up to getting up an hour before breakfast to fit in the "between meals" tablets. First day, that was difficult -- a long time to wait on breakfast! Then logic hit me:
I wake up, take a pill. Then snooze for half an hour! Another pill, another snooze -- then breakfast (with pills) as usual. Simple!
Though this morning I did use that second half hour for preparing breakfast rather than snoozing... a big mistake... Amazing how much I want to graze while I'm preparing food to be eaten a bit later :-) Of course that may be okay... as long as the chemo pill is *swallowed* "on an empty stomach"?!
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Many of the treatment side-effects -- if I get them -- will be due to the various tablets. Some will be due to the radiation: loss of hair, "sunburn" from the xyz-rays, mutant super-powers. The "sunburn" can be treated with moisturiser. With caveats:
Most moisturisers have extras: perfume, for example. Chemicals not strictly part of moisturisation of the skin. Those extra chemicals could react with the xyz-rays and burn even worse. For the same reason -- "extra" ingredients -- I can't use sun-protection creams. So there's a recommended moisturiser that is as simple as possible. And I wear a hat in the sun. All that is fine.
But where do I moisturise?!
I have a scar which -- I believe -- stretches across half the back of my skull. Somewhere in the middle of that is a circle of bone which has been removed and replaced. I can't see any of that... it's behind my head. And I'm not looking :-)
Do the xyz-rays zap me in that bony circle? Or come in from some more convenient angle? The zapping itself is just lights and noise, I have no idea where I'm being rayed. So I have no idea where to moisturise... except, perhaps, all across the back of my skull.
I'll take the easy option: If Deb tells me that the back of my scalp has red and/or bald spots -- then I can start to apply moisturiser. Because then I'll know what area is actually being affected.
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The radiation treatment itself is quite amazing...
I lie down on a hard bench, the zapper will swing round me. But I am not allowed to move... the rays need to hit the exact same spot each time. So I wear a "mask". The mask is really a mesh box which fits round my head and is then bolted down to the bench. No way I can move my head!
When the mask was being created I was asked -- very politely -- to... Please stop talking... And I notice that the finished mask keeps a good, tight grip on my jaw :-)
It's also tight enough that I close my eyes as the mask is bolted down -- and can't open them again till the mask is released. So I just lie back and relax...
While various voices call out, Warp factor 7.3528 Scotty... Aye Captain, Warp factor 7.3528. Well, that's what it reminds me of. The tech people are adjusting the aim of the zapper to hit my brain at the right location. All very technical, very reassuring, very impressive :-) Followed by noise and lights. Till my head is unclamped and ... that's it.
The radiotherapy will be weekdays for another five and a half weeks. The chemotherapy -- pills -- will be every day for those weeks. Somewhere near the end will be more scans, to look inside my head, see if tumours are coming or going... or whatever.
The next course of treatment will be adapted, based on what is shown by the scans. The next course is also likely to include treatment for the testicular cancer... as spread into my body. Which brings me to:
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This morning included a visit to the urologist, the surgeon who removed my right testicle. Scars are healing nicely, all looks good, I can go jogging soon -- as far as her own surgical work is concerned.
There was just the one seminoma tumour and it's now gone, along with the testicle. Given the size of that tumorous testicle -- and the much smaller size of the remaining left nut -- I'm amazed that I could convince myself that it was all approximately normal! It's only because it felt uncomfortably hard that I believed that something could be wrong... Tsk, tsk...
These tumours take perhaps two years from "initial existence" to being an obvious lump. (Two years... more or less... a very rough estimate.) Definitely *not* a lifetime of very slow growth. So the tumour could have been growing for a year or so -- then became a hard lump just a few months' ago.
And, I asked the urologist, just with *your* surgery: How long should I expect to feel tired? Just a couple of days, she replied. Oh, bother... I need some other excuse for still feeling worn out! Perhaps it's because I spend a lot of the night posting to this blog rather than sleeping :-)
I do get far less sleep than I believe I need. Five hours last night when seven or eight would have been nice. Partly blogging (and paying bills, and sending emails, and...). Partly nerves, I guess. Keeping my mind occupied is good for my nerves.
This week has also had three days of toddler watch... which Deb & I enjoy. And which certainly tires me out. Although I have to confess: our grandson still has an afternoon nap. And I sleep at least as long as he does :-)
Finally... for this morning... I take advantage of being an invalid... and ask my sister-in-law to pick me up from the second doctor for the day. Deb drops me off then goes to work. S-i-l picks me up, we have an enjoyable coffee & cake by the river. (The weather is ideal, warm enough to sit in the shade and enjoy the outdoors.) We cover various topics including cancer, death, the enjoyment of having grandchildren... Various *unrelated* topics :-)
Very enjoyable! Then s-i-l drops me at home -- so avoiding two bus trips.
Plenty to be done at home. And now Deb is home :-)
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." ... Albert Einstein
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Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:
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