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!
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Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI need to clarify my "whole neck" comment as there was a misunderstanding. I had BOTH sides of MY neck radiated with IMRT (targeted)therapy. (Because of the lymph node involvement, my rad-onc recommended treating both sides) What I meant was that, before the advent of the "targeted, higher dose" delivery technologies with their ability to bypass vital structures like the salivary glands, patients received more of a "broadcast" treatment that also damaged healthy tissue which led to the big quality of life issues.
Also, I was mistaken in thinking that Matt was receiving radiation to both sides of HIS neck, instead of one. Maybe, that explains the mildness (so far) of his side effects. As the docs will tell you, every case is different as every "body" is unique.
Btw, today, February 12th, is 6 years to the day that I had my first CT scan showing the lymph node tumor!!!!
hey Rob - Actually, yes we had picked up and that you had to have both sides of the neck radiated while Matt only is doing the one - that for SURE is one of the reasons your go-around would have been far worse than Matt's. We even talked about that with our rad-onc on Friday. Net net however, it is clear that Matt's body is dealing with all this toxicity extraordinarily well...phew.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS on HITTING 6 YEARS!!! You are totally our role model!! Especially given how advanced/complicated your situation was - Here's to year 7!