Treatment 7 today and I don't seem to be experiencing as much post-therapy fatigue. It's been 2 hours since treatment and I'm just barely starting to get fatigued. Does this mean the radiation didn't work as well today? I hope not.
My tastebuds today seemed to be about the same, if not slightly better than yesterday. So that's good.
The bad news for today was the honey treatment. Those with sensitive stomachs stop reading now. So, I got to the parking garage at the center and pulled out the honey. The honey went in fine. I kept trying to swallow it, but it was just sticking everywhere in my mouth. I started to gag, so I tried to spit it out, but it was just everywhere. I finally got most of it out of my mouth but I felt like I was about to puke. I sat in the car for a few minutes trying to steady myself, but I didn't want to be too late to my appointment, so I went ahead and started walking. The trip from the parking garage to the cancer center involves walking the entire length of the University Hospital and for some reason today there were just swarms and swarms of people. I get about halfway and all of a sudden I can't hold it anymore and my mouth just fills with puke. There are trash cans about every 5 feet, but people everywhere. Eventually I just have to walk over to one with a man standing inches from it and spit the puke out. So embarrassing. :\ Then after all of that I'm late to my appointment by a couple minutes. Not a good start to treatment today.
Like I said though, I'm not feeling as fatigued and my taste buds are holding. Maybe puking right before treatment is a new way to help reduce side effects. Maybe I could participate in some weird case study. Ha!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
another post on senses
6 down, 27 to go. I type this laying from the couch, the post-therapy fatigue fully hit in.
My sense of taste is leaving me. I ate a granola bar this morning and on the first bite looked down at my lap to see if I had missed my mouth. I couldn't tell that any food was there. I tasted nothing! Already! After only 5 treatments. :( I picked out a chocolate chip and focused on flavor. I could make out some sweetness. I did the same with a dried cherry. I could make out a bit of sour. I tried smelling the food first. It didn't help.
This continued through the rest of the day. I also started to notice faint hints of metallic tastes. My ensure tasted like really watery chocolate milk with nails in it. This is expected because of the chemo, which is made from metal.
The only good thing from all of this is that honey is becoming more tolerable. Last week I stupidly decided to try to take the honey while I was nauseated and I now associate eating honey with puking. Even the smell of it makes me gag. I had been trying to at least swish it in my mouth a bit before gagging and spitting it out. Today It wasn't that sweet, so I was able to swallow a bit before I caught a whiff of it and gagged from the smell. Tomorrow I'll try plugging my nose even while swallowing.
Well...it's time for dinner. Anyone up for rusty, almost chicken-flavored meat?
My sense of taste is leaving me. I ate a granola bar this morning and on the first bite looked down at my lap to see if I had missed my mouth. I couldn't tell that any food was there. I tasted nothing! Already! After only 5 treatments. :( I picked out a chocolate chip and focused on flavor. I could make out some sweetness. I did the same with a dried cherry. I could make out a bit of sour. I tried smelling the food first. It didn't help.
This continued through the rest of the day. I also started to notice faint hints of metallic tastes. My ensure tasted like really watery chocolate milk with nails in it. This is expected because of the chemo, which is made from metal.
The only good thing from all of this is that honey is becoming more tolerable. Last week I stupidly decided to try to take the honey while I was nauseated and I now associate eating honey with puking. Even the smell of it makes me gag. I had been trying to at least swish it in my mouth a bit before gagging and spitting it out. Today It wasn't that sweet, so I was able to swallow a bit before I caught a whiff of it and gagged from the smell. Tomorrow I'll try plugging my nose even while swallowing.
Well...it's time for dinner. Anyone up for rusty, almost chicken-flavored meat?
Monday, January 4, 2010
sensing radiation
So today I finally remembered to ask the radiation techs if it was normal to taste the radiation. They said that some people report that, but it really depends on what areas are being treated. I guess if the treatment is near people's eyes sometimes they'll see colors. If the treatment is near their tongue, sometimes they'll taste it. If it's near their nose, they'll smell it. How weird!
In my case every time the machine starts up for the first second or so I get a weird taste in my mouth. I can best describe it by telling you to imagine you had a cup of chlorinated pool water that you had tossed a rusty nail into, then you swished that water around in your mouth for a second. That's what it tastes like for me. ick.
Also speaking of senses, the chemo heightens senses. When I got my saline and heparin flushes after my bloodwork this morning (all my counts look good, btw) I could smell/taste it. yuck!
Hopefully the heightened taste just helps the tastebuds hold out longer. That'd be nice.
In my case every time the machine starts up for the first second or so I get a weird taste in my mouth. I can best describe it by telling you to imagine you had a cup of chlorinated pool water that you had tossed a rusty nail into, then you swished that water around in your mouth for a second. That's what it tastes like for me. ick.
Also speaking of senses, the chemo heightens senses. When I got my saline and heparin flushes after my bloodwork this morning (all my counts look good, btw) I could smell/taste it. yuck!
Hopefully the heightened taste just helps the tastebuds hold out longer. That'd be nice.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
it's called fatigue
I just turned to Jake and said "This is weird. I'm so tired, but I don't feel like sleeping." Jake responded with, "It's called fatigue." oooooooooooo. So that's what fatigue feels like. Ha.
I had day 4 of radiation today. Now I'm fatigued. I drove myself to the place and back and even stopped off at the grocery store to pick up a couple of things. I felt like a normal person (although I did hope that the check-out person didn't notice the faint waffle-face I had). Then I got home, unpacked the groceries, and decided I felt like making guacamole. That's when the fatigue hit in. I started getting so worn down. By the time I was done chopping vegetables I had to stop and lay down. Who knew guacamole could do that to a person!
I looked back up the side effects from radiation. Sure enough, first on the list: fatigue. I thought that was only from the chemo. Great.
So, I guess this may be a good place to actually ask for help. I am a very organized person and make out my shopping list/meals every week. This week I planned for simple things Jake could make himself, just in case. It seems that Jake will be making dinner for a while, now, and I have only a handful of "easy meals." It's not that Jake can't cook, in fact, he's really good at it. He's just lazy. Ha! As long as there aren't too many steps or it doesn't dirty too many pans, he doesn't mind cooking. So....here is my plea to all you out there who keep asking what you can do from so far away. Send me easy meal recipes. Things that Jake can cook (that I can hopefully eat, as well). For Jake's sake it should involve few steps and easy cleanup. For my sake it shouldn't be too heavy, greasy, or spicy.
Alright... I suppose that's all for now. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
I had day 4 of radiation today. Now I'm fatigued. I drove myself to the place and back and even stopped off at the grocery store to pick up a couple of things. I felt like a normal person (although I did hope that the check-out person didn't notice the faint waffle-face I had). Then I got home, unpacked the groceries, and decided I felt like making guacamole. That's when the fatigue hit in. I started getting so worn down. By the time I was done chopping vegetables I had to stop and lay down. Who knew guacamole could do that to a person!
I looked back up the side effects from radiation. Sure enough, first on the list: fatigue. I thought that was only from the chemo. Great.
So, I guess this may be a good place to actually ask for help. I am a very organized person and make out my shopping list/meals every week. This week I planned for simple things Jake could make himself, just in case. It seems that Jake will be making dinner for a while, now, and I have only a handful of "easy meals." It's not that Jake can't cook, in fact, he's really good at it. He's just lazy. Ha! As long as there aren't too many steps or it doesn't dirty too many pans, he doesn't mind cooking. So....here is my plea to all you out there who keep asking what you can do from so far away. Send me easy meal recipes. Things that Jake can cook (that I can hopefully eat, as well). For Jake's sake it should involve few steps and easy cleanup. For my sake it shouldn't be too heavy, greasy, or spicy.
Alright... I suppose that's all for now. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Eating right and getting cancer...
I was just going through some old emails and papers and ran across two articles on foods that supposedly help prevent cancer and I decided it was worth blogging about.
The first article linked drinking a cup of coffee a day with preventing cancer. In a Japanese study it was shown that coffee helped lower the risk for oral cancers in people, even those with risky life behaviors (smoking and drinking). Well, I've been drinking my daily Joe for a long time...so so much for that one on me.
The second article I read was about how a diet high in fruits and vegetables helps protect against cancer. In a study of 33 common vegetables, the one leading the pact was brussel sprouts. Most people out there probably don't eat enough of this leafy green, but I was a weird kid, and I LOVED brussel sprouts and ate them all the time. Go figure!
I've read studies about fruits high in anti-oxidants and started eating berries every day for lunch after the first surgery, again obviously with no positive effects.
So, it just goes to show you that sometimes even eating all the right things and avoiding smoking and drinking can only get you so far. I can just be thankful for being so aware of myself to notice when things in my mouth and neck were not quite right. Sometimes even with doing all the right things, the best you can do is still just detect it early.
The first article linked drinking a cup of coffee a day with preventing cancer. In a Japanese study it was shown that coffee helped lower the risk for oral cancers in people, even those with risky life behaviors (smoking and drinking). Well, I've been drinking my daily Joe for a long time...so so much for that one on me.
The second article I read was about how a diet high in fruits and vegetables helps protect against cancer. In a study of 33 common vegetables, the one leading the pact was brussel sprouts. Most people out there probably don't eat enough of this leafy green, but I was a weird kid, and I LOVED brussel sprouts and ate them all the time. Go figure!
I've read studies about fruits high in anti-oxidants and started eating berries every day for lunch after the first surgery, again obviously with no positive effects.
So, it just goes to show you that sometimes even eating all the right things and avoiding smoking and drinking can only get you so far. I can just be thankful for being so aware of myself to notice when things in my mouth and neck were not quite right. Sometimes even with doing all the right things, the best you can do is still just detect it early.
Friday, January 1, 2010
surviving "lethal" doses of radiation
So, I'm sitting here watching an old episode of mythbusters where they are radiating bugs, mainly cockroaches, to see if they could survive nuclear radiation. The have 4 groups: a control with zero radiation, a group exposed to 1000 rads, 10000 rads, and 100000 rads. In terms of grays, that would be 0, 10, 100, and 1000. Every time they talk about the 1000 rad (10 gray) group they say that is the "lethal" dose to humans.... Yet I'm getting up to 66 grays worth of radiation to areas of my neck over the next month or so! Granted this will be spread out over 33 treatments, but that is still a scary thought!
As I watch over half the 10 gray cockroaches die off over the month of mythbuster observation, I wonder how my 66 grays will do on my head and neck. I guess it just goes to show you how powerful the radiation will be at destroying cancer cells.
As I watch over half the 10 gray cockroaches die off over the month of mythbuster observation, I wonder how my 66 grays will do on my head and neck. I guess it just goes to show you how powerful the radiation will be at destroying cancer cells.
dealing with a case of the sniffles
Well, I seem to be doing better tiredness-wise today. Maybe Jake and I will actually get a chance to go out later today.... maybe to a movie or something. :)
My mom and sister left this morning :( It was nice spending time with them and also nice to have help cleaning the house. It's so nice having this entire weekend without needing to do a ton of chores. Thanks, mom! My mom will be back in a couple weeks to help drive me to the final weeks of treatment. Until then, I bet I can manage the appointments myself or with the help of Jake.
I'm battling a case of the sniffles right now, which is a bit annoying. I read the side effects from some of the anti-nausea meds the other day and one listed "nasal congestion and blurred vision", two symptoms I had started to develop. The vision came back, but the sniffles stayed. I hope they go away soon. When I wear that radiation mask, my mouth is forced closed and I can only breath out of my nose. With the sniffles, it makes it a bit trickier.
Well, I guess I better go find something fun to do. It's such a nice feeling not having to worry about doing all my chores today. :)
My mom and sister left this morning :( It was nice spending time with them and also nice to have help cleaning the house. It's so nice having this entire weekend without needing to do a ton of chores. Thanks, mom! My mom will be back in a couple weeks to help drive me to the final weeks of treatment. Until then, I bet I can manage the appointments myself or with the help of Jake.
I'm battling a case of the sniffles right now, which is a bit annoying. I read the side effects from some of the anti-nausea meds the other day and one listed "nasal congestion and blurred vision", two symptoms I had started to develop. The vision came back, but the sniffles stayed. I hope they go away soon. When I wear that radiation mask, my mouth is forced closed and I can only breath out of my nose. With the sniffles, it makes it a bit trickier.
Well, I guess I better go find something fun to do. It's such a nice feeling not having to worry about doing all my chores today. :)
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