Long way to go

I made it home safely without a single mechanical problem, traffic accident, or police altercation.  No telling what carnage I may have left in my wake. but heh, I made it home unscathed.

Just kidding.  The truth is that I find it easier to drive with one eye than it is to walk.  This will all take a little getting used to.

Hopefully, I will start to see some improvement in the next couple weeks.  The protons from the last treatment will remain active during this time.

To tell you the truth, I've been trying to update this blog for the past four days.  This last week of treatments were brutal.  One thing that I have learned is that the good doctors and nurses at Northwestern tend to down play the horrors that wait ahead.  They have to, otherwise, no one would agree to having treatment.  "You will have some burning, much like a sunburn...", "Fatigue is a side effect of proton therapy...", "You will have a sore throat..."

Dr. Akthar warned that the last week would be the most intense.  That is code for; "This last week of treatments will sap every ounce of energy from your body, leaving you a helpless blob of humanity with no recourse but to lay in bed, mostly in the fetal position, and moan loudly."

It has been tough.  I had to stop on the drive home, and take an hour-and-a-half nap, just to make it home safely.  I've never had anything that comes close to feeling this fatigued in my life.  This will all be behind me soon enough.

The worst is the "Trifecta of discomfort".  I mentioned mucositis before.  One of the problems is that it stops producing mucus to keep your mouth moist.  So, you have dry mouth.  Next, the treatments have my sinuses completely stuffed up, so I can't breath through my nose. This causes me to breath through my mouth which adds to the dry mouth.  And third, there is this sore in my mouth that is painful, non-stop, and makes it difficult to swallow anything.  It also is aggravated by the dry mouth.

My only relief is an oral lidocaine solution that I swish around in my mouth for a minute, and spit it out.  This gives me about five minutes of relief to take my meds, or chug down a protein drink.  I have started taking a multi-vitamin/multi mineral tablet to supplement my diet.  Man cannot live on protein alone...

Mornings are better than evenings.  You might see me out and about in the mornings, but I am down for the count in the afternoons and evenings.  

I have a telephone conference with Dr. Akthar, and the nurses, this afternoon.  He will give me words of encouragement that will assure me that this will all be over soon.  And, it will be.  I know that.  That is why I try not to focus on the present, but look forward to what next week will bring.  And, the week after that, and the week after that.

This is a journey, and it won't be over soon.  Thanks for joining me.  We have a long way to go.