Final Chemo Prep - Yippee!

Boy, we are pretty boring right now - and hope you all agree that is a GOOD thing. :-)

Matt is prepping for the final chemo on Monday...The arms are shaved (so the IV tape doesn't pull hair), his weight and white blood cell count are both good although his labs taken on Monday morning will the the true test....We hope and assume that the final treatment will be pretty close to the others - keep your fingers crossed.

The one thing we have been told is that now, these last couple weeks of radiation with the chemo, will have the greatest acceleration of the side effects (fatigue, dry mouth, sore throat) but we feel Matt is starting at such a good place that we are just not overly worried about it. Plus, the end is in sight and that helps soooo much.

One fun little story to share: Matt's new boss has two daughters who are working on a science project for school and they (with a little help from adults) chose to focus on the subject of radiation for cancer. As such, the whole clan met Matt at Frauenshuh yesterday for a tour of the radiation center and an 'interview.' Matt showed them his mask and they got to see the radiation therapy room and talk to some of the therapists, etc. and also then visited the resource library there. Pretty cool! I am thinking budding doctors or scientists perhaps? And what a great, non-scary way to help them learn about "cancer!" Matt said it was really kind of fun....And fun is really great to have right now on any front.

So - more next week. Not sure if you all are thinking about it but we sure are: the end of this blog may be in sight?! For sure we will keep it up to and through the final treatments and the first post-treatment PET scan and appointment with Dr. Doogie (it will feel like such a full circle) which should be in mid-April. And I think I will use it to post/track the follow-ups through to, for sure, month 6 post-treatment (the critical, most likely cancer recurrence period)...but then after that, who knows?! I guess we could always use it to post dog photos (ha - just kidding...)

Take care all and more on Monday after chemo.

Huh. 3 more added but not to worry

Well, it's not a huge deal but the drs are adding three more radiation treatments to Matt's regime so...

Last radiation will be Wed., March 10. If anyone wants to meet us at Methodist to celebrate "the end of treatment", just let me know! We will have important check ups yet to get thru, but hey we are moving, hopefully!, in the right direction.

Only 10 more radiations and 1 chemo to go!

Not that we are counting down or anything...

There isn't much to report out on - Matt is doing remarkably well . . . I kind-of don't want to write more because I don't want to jinx anything!

More later this week....

In-Home Therapy: Gotta Love the Hot Tub

Chemo week #two was essentially the same as #1 with some added intensity, just as the drs. predicted. While his mouth and throat are sore, it is the fatigue that is truly moving in. The taste buds are officially on the blink - some things taste great; others taste like metal. Naps were the order of the day, for the whole week. And working to deal with the chest-stomach spasms/nausea was about a full time job - as it was last time around. Today, Saturday, is the last day using the chemo meds, yeah.

One of the other side effects we hadn't mentioned before are the muscle and joint aches and pains - they hit Matt pretty hard, both times. Added to his existing bad back means even leaning over the sink to brush his teeth is, literally and physically, a pain. As such (thank goodness we had a new water heater put in @ New Years!) our mongo hot tub is his new best friend, and comes in a close second to the radiation center as his home-away-from-home. See photos of him from this week (I made sure they are family-friendly) - this is how he now brushes his teeth, above (super important given the impact on his salivary glands), flourides and just in general soaks the aches away. The plastic glove (weird-looking we know! It's a vet glove...don't think about it too hard...) is protecting his IV which was still in for getting saline after chemo. We hadn't realized what a boon it was to have the tub - both his chiropractor as well as our medical oncologist recommended hot tubs (non-public) as a great therapy. (I wonder what our water bill will look like! Should be interesting....)

Nothing else to post....Only 15 more radiation and one chemo therapy sessions remain...chipping away at that damn cancer. More next week....

Feb. 9 Update: Chemo #2 Complete

Yet, again, oh-so-happily: we don't have much to post today. Chemo #2 went about the same as #1 - to a certain extent, because we knew what to expect, it was almost a touch easier (well, except for the flippin' snow and extended commute to the hospital!). Matt had one of the lovely "chemo condos", got his saline as well as the Cisplatin no problem, radiation went off without a hitch - onward we go.

Today was okay too. Again, because we know what to expect we were able to prepare...I gave Matt his mega anti-nausea meds while he was still basically asleep, and he knew to not move around too much, too fast during the day. Peter, our brother-in-law, provided transportation today (thanks again Peter!) and is on again tomorrow; Dad/Dick McF is helping us out Thursday and Friday (thanks in advance, Dad).

Matt saw Dr. H (radiation oncologist) today and it is all looking good. He too is happy that the side effects are staying at bay (but warns week 5 - next week - will be tougher) and assures us the radiation IS working and the cancer is 'not happy' - even though Matt's mouth and throat has not developed open sores and all that. Boy, we are SO glad he (Dr. H) made sure to look out for Matt's quality of life and that he decided/was okay with only radiating the one side of the neck. If he (Matt) was getting both sides, this all would be that much worse....As Rob, a fellow neck cancer survivor (and blog-follower) wrote to us the other week (and this is Cathy's paraphrasing) "you have to feel badly for all those poor slobs who had to have their whole necks radiated 'cause that is just what you did with this kind of cancer, not that long ago...." Dodged that bullet, thank you very much!

The Halfway Point

Friday represented radiation treatment #19 - the halfway point! While we know that the cumulative effects of treatment (especially with chemo and radiation combined) are such that Matt is not yet experiencing the halfway point for side effects - that is weeks away - it still feels darn good to be here, says Matt.

We don't have much to report as we prep for chemo day #2 tomorrow, but thought we would share out a special, handmade card Matt received from his nephew, Ian (8 years old), this week. We Skype with him periodically - with Matt's brother Jim and his wife Enika, from California - and evidently he wanted to send well wishes of his own. Matt is holding the card above, and here is what he, Ian, wrote:

My Christmas Gift

If I could give someone a gift I would give to my dad's brother. I would give it to him because he has cancer. I would make a card for him. I would treat him well. I would take some money out of my bank account and buy some medicine for him. I would go to his surgery to cheer him up. After his surgery we would go to a restaurant. In the morning I would play my piano and I would give him lots of hugs. This is how I would like to celebrate the holidays. By, Ian McLane

How swell is that?! We move into the next phase with smiles on our faces, that is for sure....

Nearing the Halfway Point

Today, Wednesday Feb. 3, represents radiation/treatment day #16 - just a few away from #19 - the halfway point for Matt (total treatments = 38). Yeow-zah!

We don't want to jinx anything but thought we should report out that Matt is actually feeling pretty darn good, considering. You would not leap to the conclusion the guy is going through both radiation and chemotherapy by just looking at him, that's for sure. This past weekend he was positively perky. Our mantra of the month: every day without barfing is a GOOD day and then some!

The skin on his neck/cheek has improved - the rash has subsided and the sensitivity has died down...The hair loss has slowed down for the moment (but is expected to ratchet back up after next week)...The inside of his mouth and throat are a little more sore, and he gets some painful jabs when he talks and/or swallows - but in general, he is feeling good (still going in to work for half days - wow!) and is still very self-functioning. His taste/the taste buds are kind of coming and going; currently he is going through a phase where water tastes like vegetable oil and grape juice like nectar - go figure. However he is still eating 'normal' food and has kept his weight up nicely which the drs are pleased about.

Monday is chemotherapy treatment #2 and given Matt's reaction to number one, we are hopeful that - with the help of all those lovely anti-nausea drugs, Prilosec, etc. etc. (see above photo!) - next week will be only a little tougher than that first one. We will let you know. We had an appointment with Dr. Lorrie (medical oncologist) today and his blood work was checked in preparation for Monday and all looks good/normal. White blood cell count is down, but not too bad and that's only to be expected with treatment. He picked up his chemo drug cornucopia today (photo above) so we are all set....

I wonder what movie we will watch - they have LCD TVs with DVD players in the chemo rooms. Is that perfect or what?! :-)