Well as you can imagine chemo kicked my butt again. Things were looking okay on Monday and even Tuesday seemed like things would be tolerable. By Wednesday I was back at the oncologist getting pumped with fluid thanks to the inability to keep anything down. They were ready to admit to the hospital right then and there but luckily Papa Chang got them to reconsider. We switched up some medications and agreed I'd be in the office Thursday and Friday for fluids.
Seemed like a great idea at the time. By Friday I was willingly checking myself into the hospital. Today is Sunday and I'm still here. If tonight continues to go well I'll be checking out in the morning in time to go to radiation. Checking out with a new accessory. As you know I had a feeding tube put in two weeks ago. Well, to finally get things under control they've added a pump to the tube so I am fed continuously for 24 hours. Seems to be working. The upside to this is that I don't have to smell the formula so I get to imagine my stomach is full of pepperoni pizza or steak! The downside of course is being hooked to a machine 24/7 that comes with it's own sound effects and a pole! Not a stripper pole get your minds out of the gutter... This isn't permanent but may be around for a few weeks. Then I'll get the stripper pole it's supposed to be a great work-out.
Counting tomorrow there are five radiation treatments left. FIVE!!!! That means I can count down on one hand and by Friday it will be over. As you can imagine I'm only a little excited. I know I won't be back to myself by Saturday but at least I won't be bombarded with poison on a daily basis.
Lately the question I've been asking my Doctors is how do we know this has worked or in other words how do we know it's really over. I have been assured that everything is showing remarkable improvement. In a couple weeks I'll head back to the ENT to have some scopes done, then a few weeks later a CT scan, then is a few months a PET scan. After the PET scan they will be able to tell if I'm in remission which everyone seems to think is a foregone conclusion. The word cure won't be official for five years. So get ready for five more years of Chang posting...
So for now I'm going to ask you for your continued thoughts and prayers over the next week. One milestone at a time is how I'm going to focus my energy for a while.
Thanks again for all the love and support it is felt whole-heartedly here in Texas.
I am really excited that we're down to five treatements! However, I'm really sorry that you're really having an exceptionally miserable time of it.
ReplyDeleteBut you're right, focusing on the time when the poison is no longer being pumped in is good and soon you'll start to feeling like you're heading towards normal instead of wondering if you're feeling worse.
And I think it will definitely be worth it in the long run.
Hang in there - and let me know if you need any recipies on the other end when you can start eating food again. When my dad got out of the hospital, we made modified miso soup... I bet you'd like that. :)