Progress and pain

Finally an update!

I started feeling really bad on Thursday of my first week of radiation (the day after my last post) -- I had rescheduled my daily radiation appointment from 12:20 to 8:30, and was planning to go back to work on Friday,  but Thursday after radiation I was just wiped out -- with one of my classic headaches associated with throat and ear pain (from the cancer).  It seemed to get worse that first week, and was pretty constant for at least a week after that.  Then, suddenly last weekend, the headache cleared (mostly), and I started feeling semi-human again some of the time.  That must mean the tumor's shrinking!  Cool.

About the time that I started feeling better from the throat/ear/headache,  the radiation caught up with me, and my throat started feeling really raw.  I'm having trouble eating just about everything -- swallowing is very painful, and most foods sting my throat something awful.  I'm down to mostly smoothies, shakes, yogurt, and cottage cheese.  Jane made me some scrambled eggs today, but they were pretty hard to swallow.

The radiation and chemo also seem to be sapping my energy.  I was able to work for an hour or so yesterday, but then I was wiped out and slept for several hours.  But with the awesome support of my wonderful wife, I've been able to rest and not have to do too much.  Thanks Jane :)

Also, big shout outs to our friends Zoomer and Pinky, who came through with awesome delivered meals last weekend!  Thanks guys!

So far so good

I had my second infusion and first radiation treatment yesterday, and my second radiation treatment today. Everything went fine, and didn't seem to affect me at all (apart from the pre-infusion benadryl putting me to sleep).  No headache this time (well, no worse than my usual).

I know the radiation is cumulative and will start to really get unpleasant in a few weeks, but for now it's not bad (apart from being bound in the plastic mesh while the business end of the radiation device moves around me making ominous sounds).

I also got my radiation treatments moved from 12:20pm to 8:30am, so I'll at least be able to get to works a few days a week.  Speaking of work, it remains unstable, but there are some potentially interesting developments on the horizon...

more later.