Ringing the Bell and other things.

Yeah...

Congratulations "T". Glad to hear the treatments are done. Whoo hoo. AND you did meet your goal, so now a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do.

God bless and continued success.

Ruben and Jude

 

T-You've been missed

I see I wasnt the only one who was wondering if you were ok. What a relief to be at the end of this, just when you might have wanted to wave the white flag! My husband his last radiation on Monday. thought he would be a little more excited, but feeling a little too cruddy to muster any excitement. I think we both secretly hoped he'd feel noticably better by the end of the week. from what I've gathered we might have a ways to go yet.

Did you keep your mask as a souvenir? 

It seems like a few people here are on a similar treatment calendar and are just winding down or have just finished. I'm looking forward to hearing how the recuperating goes for everyone.

Kcre30 said:

T-You've been missed

I see I wasnt the only one who was wondering if you were ok. What a relief to be at the end of this, just when you might have wanted to wave the white flag! My husband his last radiation on Monday. thought he would be a little more excited, but feeling a little too cruddy to muster any excitement. I think we both secretly hoped he'd feel noticably better by the end of the week. from what I've gathered we might have a ways to go yet.

Did you keep your mask as a souvenir? 

It seems like a few people here are on a similar treatment calendar and are just winding down or have just finished. I'm looking forward to hearing how the recuperating goes for everyone.

Yeah...what did you do with your mask??

lay it in the parking lot, and then run over it on the way out??   So far that's been my biggest tempation....put it in the driveway and run over it a few times with the Jeep.

p

Ding!

Glad you are finished with this part of the journey....yes, rough...but doable! After a few weeks down you will start to feel better. Hang in there!

~C

ILMM13 said:

Congrats

Congrats on finishing your treatments, "T".  I've been hoping you were doing ok.

T
I'm so happy you got to ring the bell! I will ring mine for you in the morning. I would do it now but it's a very loud bell and wake everyone up.

Sorry you had to get the PEG but honestly it's more of a lifesaver than a burden. I assume with your positive attitude

fishmanpa said:

Home at Last!

Hi Folks,

Thank you for all your kind words  

The last two weeks have been exceptionally difficult. So much so that it's taken every bit of energy I have just to get through the day. I can barely stay awake for an hour without drifting off into a dream state let alone type something coherently.

Friday morning Marcia and I went to the hospital for the last round of fluids and follow-ups which were all done from the chemo infusion room. I got two bags of saline (one with dextrose) and a bag of magnesium. My bloodwork is passable but needs monitoring. I'll be going Monday to have blood drawn and then the team will let me know whether to report back to the hospital for a blood transfusion. My red and white counts are down a bit. The level of detail and care that I've experienced at Johns Hopkins has been above and beyond. We'll be heading back there regardless in the next two weeks to have the PEG followed up on. There are these little "buttons" sorta holding everything in place that need to be removed and the whole thing adjusted. It's a very strange feeling indeed to have fluid drip directly into your stomach but I see the allure for sure. My throat is raw and there's no way I'm getting anything in but sips of water. I tried some broth and an Ensure and promptly tossed my cookies after a sip. Looks like I'm in this for the long haul. They prescribed me Osmolite. I'm expecting a delivery tomorrow. 

Speaking of tomorrow. It's after 3am Saturday the 27th. We arrived home at around 8pm Friday night. I was exhausted from the drive and promtly crawled through the door and passed out in my comfy chair. I've been up and down since then. It's SO good to be home! Socrates didn't take long to cozy up to me and he's pretty much been with me since.    

The toughest part thus far has been the finish. This is by far the worse I've felt the entire time. The skin on my neck is peeling and I have a prescription of a burn cream that gives me some relief. Later this morning I will take my first official tube feeding. We're shooting for a 1/2 a can and the other 1/2 3-4 hours later. The goal is to get to 7 cans daily which will be 2500 calories. Of course, anything I can take in orally is a bonus.  

Concerning the mask. Yes, I took mine with me. I don't own firearms but I have friends who do. Once I'm well enough I plan on taking the mask to a range, borrowing a friends 12 guage shotgun and blowing it to itsy bitsy pieces! 

"T"

Home Sweet Home

Hi "T"

It will get better. I remember the osmolite days, gives the phrase breakfast of champions a whole new meaning. Enjoy the two best days of therapy one can have......Home Sweet Home.

      Jeff 

fishmanpa said:

Home at Last!

Hi Folks,

Thank you for all your kind words  

The last two weeks have been exceptionally difficult. So much so that it's taken every bit of energy I have just to get through the day. I can barely stay awake for an hour without drifting off into a dream state let alone type something coherently.

Friday morning Marcia and I went to the hospital for the last round of fluids and follow-ups which were all done from the chemo infusion room. I got two bags of saline (one with dextrose) and a bag of magnesium. My bloodwork is passable but needs monitoring. I'll be going Monday to have blood drawn and then the team will let me know whether to report back to the hospital for a blood transfusion. My red and white counts are down a bit. The level of detail and care that I've experienced at Johns Hopkins has been above and beyond. We'll be heading back there regardless in the next two weeks to have the PEG followed up on. There are these little "buttons" sorta holding everything in place that need to be removed and the whole thing adjusted. It's a very strange feeling indeed to have fluid drip directly into your stomach but I see the allure for sure. My throat is raw and there's no way I'm getting anything in but sips of water. I tried some broth and an Ensure and promptly tossed my cookies after a sip. Looks like I'm in this for the long haul. They prescribed me Osmolite. I'm expecting a delivery tomorrow. 

Speaking of tomorrow. It's after 3am Saturday the 27th. We arrived home at around 8pm Friday night. I was exhausted from the drive and promtly crawled through the door and passed out in my comfy chair. I've been up and down since then. It's SO good to be home! Socrates didn't take long to cozy up to me and he's pretty much been with me since.    

The toughest part thus far has been the finish. This is by far the worse I've felt the entire time. The skin on my neck is peeling and I have a prescription of a burn cream that gives me some relief. Later this morning I will take my first official tube feeding. We're shooting for a 1/2 a can and the other 1/2 3-4 hours later. The goal is to get to 7 cans daily which will be 2500 calories. Of course, anything I can take in orally is a bonus.  

Concerning the mask. Yes, I took mine with me. I don't own firearms but I have friends who do. Once I'm well enough I plan on taking the mask to a range, borrowing a friends 12 guage shotgun and blowing it to itsy bitsy pieces! 

"T"

It's slow going when you first finish

treatment, but I know you'll be getting your cans of food down in a few days....it is weird, huh?  Glad tho for now, you're just taking in what your stomach can handle.  The one thing worse that trying to swallow with the sore sore throat, it's having it come up from an urpie tummy, with stomach acid in the mix.  The damn tube just creeped me out the entire time I used it....like when you first pour food down it, you get this coolness in your esphagus....strange feeling since it's going up from the stomach instead of down from your mouth....

At least now, no matter how crappy you feel....they won't be pouring anymore chemo into you, and there are no rads left to do....so you can kick back and heal....If you end up with a transfusion, know you're going to feel 75% better after it....I had 3 or 4 during treatment, and couldn't believe how much they pepped me up (well, maybe that's an over statement...LOL...but at least I quit feeling like death warmed over). 

I LOVE your idea of shooting the mask.....we have lots of guns in this house, and I haven't done any target shooting since I was a teenager.....that sounds like a great thing to do with it.

p