Life Came At Me Fast

Hello, all -

It's high time I updated the blog and caught up with everybody.

I am neck deep in chemo and radiation therapy right now. These two treatments dominate our week, as I do radiation everyday Monday through Friday, and chemo is once a week on Thursday. In some ways things are getting easier, and in others much tougher.

With chemo, I started taking anti-nausea pills to control the out of control nausea I usually feel Thursday through Sunday. If I take them on time they really work. Other good news: I only have two more weeks to go!

With radiation, unbelievably I have grown used to wearing that damn cage over my body. I lay down, get strapped in and its over before you know it. The side effects of radiation have really kicked in, however. For the first time in my life, that which has not failed me so far finally has: my hair fell out in a delicious unnatural pattern (see photo). Only days before I had gotten a very military style haircut, so it was nothing for J to finish the rest off with clippers. Also, the radiation dries my skin out badly, including INSIDE my nose. I get so many nosebleeds my nose scabs up on the inside, rendering me with a stuffy nose most of the time. I have found Neosporin on a q-tip works well to heal. I have pretty bad dry mouth, a combination of breathing through my mouth all the time and my salivary glands not working as well (thanks, radiation). The biggest side effect is that my taste buds pretty much do not work. I can taste the very basic flavors of salt, sugar, bitter. No food tastes like itself with the exception of chocolate (I can still taste chocolate! YAAAYY!) I ate some Starburst candy the other day and it tasted like I was eating wax. No fruit flavor (even in real fruit). I have found food now must be eaten with texture as the main criteria, because my smell is gone forever and my taste is on vacation).

I was complaining to J the other day about being all beat up with this disease. From only July 8, I have lost all or part of all 5 of my senses. My left eye is gone. My left ear now is muffled and "bubbly" when I yawn. Smell is dead (forever). Taste is in a coma. I can not feel much of my face and head. It is actually starting to get me down, because I'm not whole and I will never be again. Awww. Food and cooking are not a joy to me anymore. I can't smell a slow cooker or a cake in the oven. When I "taste" these foods, no matter how delicious, they are flavorless.

There is, perhaps, light at the end of the tunnel. I have been told there is a good chance that many of the side effects I am experiencing will abate. Nobody wants to tell me they will completely come back, but the consensus seems to be a return of some of my taste and hair. My dry skin and nosebleeds should go away as well.

I'll close for now. See ya.