THE DEATH WATCH-TEN
TIME CHECK-24 October 2007
Since my time line ran afoul of my ability to get back into this Blog I thought I out to re-establish the real time line. I just posted the second of my write-ups and it is about a week behind. Today’s activity was my second of five radiations and tomorrow I have an appointment with the Oncologist. Hopefully, he will be able to give me a realistic time-line and a plan for my quality of life. Right now I’m still not sure that what I am experiencing is really associated with the cancer. I will also be seeing the radiation Oncologist after my last treatment on Monday. I’ll keep writing and posting but I wanted to benchmark the real time of these items.
11:30PM-I am having a problem sleeping since I am constantly gagging on my own saliva and I have to cough up and spit out. Some of the spit resembles flem (0r is it phlegm). My left jaw hurts and my knees are hurting so badly that I fear they will buckle under me. I need to support myself just to climb a single step. I also am feeling some chest pain since I am coughing quite a bit. As soon as the gagging dissipates I will try sleeping again. My most comfortable position outside of the recliner that I sleep in is the driving position behind the wheel of the Vette. My knees do not hurt and my back and chest are not under any stress. I do, however, still need to spit often. Talking leads to spitting fits and telephone conversation is a real chore.
So far I have not seen any change to my situation as a result of the radiation but it’s only the second of five treatments so I still have high hopes.
TIME CHECK-25 October 2007
It’s 4:00AM and I woke to the duel messages from my bladder and my saliva build-up. I decided to start my breakfast now so that I can leave for the hospital as soon as I meet the school bus at 7:24AM. It seemed to work well yesterday even though I did have to nap a bit to catch-up on my sleep. Today is my appointment with the Oncologist so I hope to find out the full extent of my cancer.
The bottom line after my appointment is that they don’t know anything about a time-line. I could live six-months, plus or minus, more or less. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and I probably won’t live another five years. I guess it is all up to me to decide how I want to live till I die. Since my legs are hurting the doctor says to take painkillers and starting next week he will start me on a regimen to strengthen my bones. I should try to do whatever I feel capable of doing and ask him for the means to get those things done. I am also looking into a clinical study to see about getting dosed with chemicals that should help the body build anti-bodies against cancer. There will be fewer side effects than with chemo and neither promises to increase my life expectancy. I can only hope that the radiation decreases the blockage in my throat and then I’ll only be left with the cancer induced weakness.
TIME CHECK-26 October 2007
My bladder woke me at 3:30AM after a very deep sleep. I’m sure that the use of a couple of shots of Vicadin (painkiller) helped with my sleep. I also didn’t feel as much discomfort or pain from walking. I will start breakfast very soon so that I at least have something on my stomach prior to the next radiation treatment. This will be treatment #4. I do see some results already in that I seem to be spitting less but I am also experiencing more phlegm coming up. I guess I should have had a simpler symptom time-line for the doctor since he wanted to know when things started to hurt. My fatigue is directly related to the cancer so knowing that will allow me to overcome that aspect of my daily routine. “We shall overcome…someday!”
In trying to establish the “which-came-first” scenario I am still not very clear. I guess I was experiencing some leg and knee pain before the new cancer was uncovered but the pains really escalated after the doctor told us that the cancer had spread to the lungs and the bones. The balancing act I now have to work on is the amount and quantity of painkiller I take at the expense of my ability to function. The leg pain is going to be my benchmark to begin with and I will adjust my daily schedule according to how the painkillers affect my functionality.
Since my time line ran afoul of my ability to get back into this Blog I thought I out to re-establish the real time line. I just posted the second of my write-ups and it is about a week behind. Today’s activity was my second of five radiations and tomorrow I have an appointment with the Oncologist. Hopefully, he will be able to give me a realistic time-line and a plan for my quality of life. Right now I’m still not sure that what I am experiencing is really associated with the cancer. I will also be seeing the radiation Oncologist after my last treatment on Monday. I’ll keep writing and posting but I wanted to benchmark the real time of these items.
11:30PM-I am having a problem sleeping since I am constantly gagging on my own saliva and I have to cough up and spit out. Some of the spit resembles flem (0r is it phlegm). My left jaw hurts and my knees are hurting so badly that I fear they will buckle under me. I need to support myself just to climb a single step. I also am feeling some chest pain since I am coughing quite a bit. As soon as the gagging dissipates I will try sleeping again. My most comfortable position outside of the recliner that I sleep in is the driving position behind the wheel of the Vette. My knees do not hurt and my back and chest are not under any stress. I do, however, still need to spit often. Talking leads to spitting fits and telephone conversation is a real chore.
So far I have not seen any change to my situation as a result of the radiation but it’s only the second of five treatments so I still have high hopes.
TIME CHECK-25 October 2007
It’s 4:00AM and I woke to the duel messages from my bladder and my saliva build-up. I decided to start my breakfast now so that I can leave for the hospital as soon as I meet the school bus at 7:24AM. It seemed to work well yesterday even though I did have to nap a bit to catch-up on my sleep. Today is my appointment with the Oncologist so I hope to find out the full extent of my cancer.
The bottom line after my appointment is that they don’t know anything about a time-line. I could live six-months, plus or minus, more or less. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and I probably won’t live another five years. I guess it is all up to me to decide how I want to live till I die. Since my legs are hurting the doctor says to take painkillers and starting next week he will start me on a regimen to strengthen my bones. I should try to do whatever I feel capable of doing and ask him for the means to get those things done. I am also looking into a clinical study to see about getting dosed with chemicals that should help the body build anti-bodies against cancer. There will be fewer side effects than with chemo and neither promises to increase my life expectancy. I can only hope that the radiation decreases the blockage in my throat and then I’ll only be left with the cancer induced weakness.
TIME CHECK-26 October 2007
My bladder woke me at 3:30AM after a very deep sleep. I’m sure that the use of a couple of shots of Vicadin (painkiller) helped with my sleep. I also didn’t feel as much discomfort or pain from walking. I will start breakfast very soon so that I at least have something on my stomach prior to the next radiation treatment. This will be treatment #4. I do see some results already in that I seem to be spitting less but I am also experiencing more phlegm coming up. I guess I should have had a simpler symptom time-line for the doctor since he wanted to know when things started to hurt. My fatigue is directly related to the cancer so knowing that will allow me to overcome that aspect of my daily routine. “We shall overcome…someday!”
In trying to establish the “which-came-first” scenario I am still not very clear. I guess I was experiencing some leg and knee pain before the new cancer was uncovered but the pains really escalated after the doctor told us that the cancer had spread to the lungs and the bones. The balancing act I now have to work on is the amount and quantity of painkiller I take at the expense of my ability to function. The leg pain is going to be my benchmark to begin with and I will adjust my daily schedule according to how the painkillers affect my functionality.
posted by Michael at
10:44:00 AM
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