I made it - sort of

I finished the radiation treatments on Friday. I am sure glad that is over. The nurses sent me home with my radiation mask as a souvenir, and a certificate of completion. It seems a little odd to get a certificate of completion but I guess now that I think about it, it's probably a select few who have one of those hanging on their wall. My mom always told me that I was special I guess she was right. They say the sides affects could linger for a few weeks. I still have headaches, nausea and vomiting so I guess they weren't kidding. So it's a little anti-climatic to be done and still feel crappy. I woke up this morning and my hair-hurt. This is not a good sign since I had the same sensation when I lost my hair during chemo. We'll do more scans to check the success of the radiation in a few weeks. Looking forward to feeling better soon. Take care. -Eric

Radiation 2

I have received 5 doses of radiation, I am half way done. 5 more to go next week. I won't receive radiation on Saturday or Sunday so I am hoping that the two day respite will help me to feel better. Monica asked me which was worst the chemo or the radiation. The chemo was definitely worse but the radiation is not far behind. The only word that really describes how I feel is "crappy". Hoping for better days ahead. Take care. -Eric

Radiation

It's day 3 of the radiation treatments. 7 more to go. It's not going as smoothly as I had hoped. Day 1: I recieved the first radiation dose. They are radiating my entire head, and a small area on my left lung where the cancer is the most dense. I went to work after the first dose, 4 hours later I got a really bad headache, 2 hours after the headache I came home from work and started vomiting and feeling pretty crappy, I didn't sleep well that night. Day 2: More vomiting. I received the second dose of radiation. The doctor put me on steroids to reduce the swelling in my head and help with the headaches, and naseau medication to help with the vomiting. Day 3: More vomitting. I recieved the third dose of radiation. The headaches seem to be gone after starting the regime of steroids, but the naseua is still around. The doctor suggested a different naseua medication. I am also feeling a little fatigue, but the naseua is the worst. Fun stuff. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Take care. -Eric

what's up

It took a while to get the radiation procedure setup and appointments scheduled. I went in today for the first treatment. This first treatment is called a dry run. This means that there was no radiation given, just a test of the setup and procedure to make sure everything is ready. They bolted my head to the table with my radiation mask, and lined up the lasers to my tatoos and took some pictures of my head and lungs. I will receive my first treatment on Monday morning at 8:30 and more treatments everyday for the next two weeks. Wish me luck.

My tatoos

I felt a little rebellious today so I went out and got some tattoos, three to be exact. We met with the radiation oncologist today to prepare for radiation treatments. The plan is to radiate the entire head. There are 6 identifiable cancer spots on my brain. All are small; the largest is located in the front left lobe of the brain. The others are very small and difficult to see in the scans. The cancer was introduced through the brain fluids, so that is why we have to do a full head radiation, rather than spot treatments. The radiation will most likely start next Monday. Today I received a CT scan of my head, and I was fitted with a radiation mask. The radiation mask is custom created and fitted to my face; the intent is to protect the part of my head that we don’t want to radiate. I will receive 10 doses of radiation, one each day for 10 days. Side affects can include nausea, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue, short term memory loss, and hair loss (crap I just barely got my hair back). Both my oncologist and the radiation oncologist are optimistic that this will clear up the cancer on my brain. There are not many other options if this doesn’t work. I won’t be able to drive while receiving the radiation treatments, so Monica will now be my chauffeur, in addition to everything else she does. There is also an option to do some radiation on the cancer in the lungs at the same time. I am working with my oncologist to decide if this is the right time to pursue this, there are good reasons on both sides of that decision. I also received my maintenance drugs today. So I am feeling good today, once we start the radiation treatments next week I may not feel so well. Oh by the way the tattoos are alignment marks that are put on both sides and the middle of my chest to help the radiologist line up the radiation machine to exactly where it needs to go every time, and yes they are permanent. I guess that’s about all I know right now. This is all very scary stuff and Monica and I have certainly had our ups and downs over the last few days. But I guess I have decided that we are doing everything possible both medically, and spiritually to fix this and in the end that’s all we can do. So there is no need to cry, and no need to fret, that doesn’t do much good. We just pull ourselves up, put a smile on our face and never ever give up. Take care -Eric

good news/bad news

I had two scans on Wednesday. A C.T. scan to check the cancer in my lungs, and an MRI scan because I have been getting some unexplained head and neck aches. The good news is that the cancer in my lungs has not grown, so the maintenance drugs are doing their job there. The bad news is that the cancer has spread into my head. The MRI found spots of cancer on my brain. I received the call from doctor about 2 hours ago at work. I am at home now. Apparently the brain does a good job of blocking the chemotherapy drugs, so that explains how the cancer was able to spread to the brain without spreading in the lungs. The plan is to start radiation therapy as soon as possible next week. I will receive daily radiation treatments for the next 3 weeks followed by another MRI. Take care. -Eric