1/3 Done With Radiation...

Hi everyone - sorry it's been a little while since the last post, but it was the end of the semester for me, and that means finals. And, well, you know how that goes.

At any rate, Tony is plugging away with the chemo and radiation. He gets a lower dose of chemo on Mondays and has radiation Monday through Friday. And he is getting a different chemo drug this time: it's carboplatin, not 5-FU as I had mentioned previously. He also gets the amifostine shot in his arm every day. All in all, he amazes me. I would be a puddle of tears by now if I had to endure all of this.

With 22 more treatments still to go, he is definitely beginning to feel the side effects of radiation. His sense of taste is mostly gone, although every now and then he will run across something he can actually taste. Not being able to taste things has a profound effect on appetite (I probably wouldn't want to eat, either, if I couldn't taste food at all). His throat is sore, mostly when he swallows, so this limits what he can eat, too. We've made the transition to mostly soft/slippery foods that are able to go down easily. We've also stocked up on Boost shakes, which are high-calorie, high-protein nutritional supplements. Tony says they're not too pleasant, so I am going to try to mix them up in a milkshake and see if that helps at all. More than the sore throat, though, he says it's the inflammation and swelling that is unpleasant. With all the radiated tissues being inflamed, he says it feels like his tongue is swollen and his throat is too small to do what it's intended to do. He's also got a very dry mouth most of the time, and keeps water around at all times. So if you can taste and swallow food today, stop and say a little prayer of thanks...it's amazing what we take for granted!

Tony's radiation oncologist has given us a variety of things to try for relief, including "Magic Mouthwash," which has lidocaine in it to numb the throat. Tony tried this and said it was pretty awful, although I think we're going to try it again later. He didn't like the fact that his tongue went numb as well as his throat!

We do request your continued prayers. I would say this is the most difficult part of treatment, physically and emotionally, and unfortunately, it will get worse before it gets better. He's 1/3 done, and we just have to keep plugging, but it is very unpleasant. So prayers are very much appreciated! Hope everyone has a great weekend...we'll be trying to rest up, since Saturdays and Sundays are treatment-free. :)