3 1/2 weeks of being wrapped, packed and stacked, the ticks in the boxes and the numbers added to the statistics folder, time for a sit down and a cuppa tea ..... wrong.
Appointments with medical and radiation oncology turned up a treatment regime, easy they said, we will poison and irradiate you at the same time, that should kill the freeloader, or at least give it a bad headache.
Ok, ok, the description was a bit rough. The treatment would comprise 6 cycles of Carboplatin/Paclitaxel chemotherapy in conjunction with 30 radiation treatments, all to start on 29 Mar. With luck this would kill the tumor and allow me to live happily ever after. The one shadow on this scene of happiness was the fact that I was still losing weight, at 56 Kg almost 20 Kg down on my pre illness weight and coupled with a lack of appetite it was not going to turn around anytime soon, even with meal replacement supplements.
9 Mar. the day of the planning meeting. Today my pad would be made that would hold me in the correct position for the radiation, 3 tattoos to ensure I was located correctly and a pass through the CT machine to map the tumor so the correct angles can be calculated so the whole tumor gets its dose. All quick and easy then back to the waiting room for a final chat with the Radiation Oncologist before being released to await treatment day.
The look on the Dr's face as she walked into the room said it all. Houston, we have a problem, in this case a large problem. She had been monitoring the raw images from the CT and saw that the tumor had substantially increased in size, so much that the treatment would have to change and start a lot earlier. When I saw the refined images about 2 months later the right lung could not be seen at all and the tumor was barely within the treatable limits of the radiation machine, very scary.
So, new plan, 12 doses radical radiation to start 17 Mar. with assessment after completion.
17 Mar. first treatment in this room.
The treatment itself is quick and easy, lie on the table, the nurses place you in the correct position and then a couple of minutes for the radiation and its all done, no discomfort at all. It is recommended that you use a moisturizer on the area being treated, I used Sorbolene Lotion and my skin never so much as turned pink, however not every case is like this, with some people experiencing quite severe burns.
After arriving home I managed a small snack and was very proud of myself, that lasted for about an hour and then everything I have ever eaten came back and I swear I could smell and taste burning. For the next 10 days, apart from supplements, I did not eat a single thing. The other problem was the cough, I could not lie down, I had to be either sitting or standing and even then suffered from fits of coughing.
My daughter was now driving me to treatment appointments as I was so weak I did not trust myself behind the wheel.
Forward a few days to Easter Saturday, I'm halfway through the treatment and really need to see something outside the 4 walls of my house that doesn't have a radiation machine in it, so off to the supermarket, get dropped at the door and walk slowly around resting on the trolley. It all went rather well ..... until I got home.
I started coughing as I got out of the car, coughing very hard and I felt something break inside, my mouth filled with junk so I went around the corner and spat it out .... blood, all blood. I spent the next hour or so in the bathroom coughing and spitting blood until the coughing slowly subsided. Time to ring the hospital. It's Easter Saturday, very few staff, I did manage to speak to a duty Dr who just asked if it was still occurring, no, then wait till Tuesday. I had a bit of a grumble but waited anyway and even then waited until my next appointment as the problem never came back. In fact since then I have never coughed even a trace of blood.
5 Apr and radiation treatment is finished, I have a sore throat and weigh 50 Kg. The sore throat is a real problem as I desperately need to eat, I am unable to walk more than a few steps at a time due to weakness.
First food ice cream and jelly, I ate it for a week until the sore throat eased and still have it every evening for dessert. Then soups, clear soup, chicken noodle and vegetable, as long as they were mainly liquid I could get them down. Lots of eggs, starting with scrambled and then poached. One thing I could not eat was bread, it seems that a lack of saliva causes it to clump and there was no way I could swallow it.
Slowly the weight went back on, I think the key was eating small meals 5 or 6 times a day and still taking the supplements.
One thing I was not prepared for was the pain as my leg muscles rebuilt, absolute agony in certain positions.
That is where we shall leave this gripping tale for the moment.
Adeno will return in Treatment Pt 2
Stay safe everyone
Jeff
