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 t
he 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....
Sleep is a wonderful thing Matt - get it whenever you can! That's about all your body is going to want to do for quite a while. Btw, seeing your plastic arm bag reminded me of having to hold my feeding tube up every time I took a shower for 4 months. Really glad you don't have that to deal with along with everything else. It's a shame that in addition to poisoning you they make you do things to "look" silly as well. But hey, I think the nurses and techs would go nuts if they couldn't have a little fun too!!
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