one week...

luvofmylif

Well, tomorrow marks the completion of our first week of chemo and radiation. We saw the Rad doc today and oncology doc. Everything ok, except he lost 5 lbs in 2 days and is dehydrated ( his bp was low). He is eating but just not alot. Drinking but not alot. He is trying and that's all I can ask.

I definitely know that I am glad we are on the treatment road because the sooner we start the sooner we finish. He has been thru so much already....two surgeries since August and not alot of time to recuperate before all this started. Waiting to start treatment is grueling...thinking about what can happen is almost worse then actually going thru it. I know it is early in this phase of treatment but we are hunkered down and ready for a fight, so to speak. Some people tell me it's like war...you have to be prepared to fight mentally and physically everyday.

I thank all of you on this site and pray for you all, especially the ones with recurrence. I know the agony of worry and pain I as a spouse have been through...somedays I just think this is all a bad dream. One day life is normal and the next one the person you love has Stage IV cancer...life can change so quickly and continues to teach me many lessons.

Joan

ditto1

Good Job
getting past the 1st week, yes its tough and yes it gives us a new way of looking at life as we know it. I think when cancer invades our lives it reminds us of our immortality. We now have this thing in us that wants to take our lives and quite frankly it makes us very angry (to keep it clean)so after the shock of the dx, we are eagar to kick its butt. It throws some tough punches and losing weight is one of them, but thank God pretty much what it throws at us they have ways now to counter its affects. Not sure if your spouse has a feeding tube, I did not have one and I lost about 33lbs from beginning to end, lousy diet but the 33lbs was ok since I was overweight. As important as eating is, I believe its the fluids that are most critical so have him do his best in drinking fluids plus he can get nutrients with things like Boost. We will be praying for you both and now lets whip week number 2.

CivilMatt

one week down, almost
Hi Joan,

One week down (tomorrow), great start, great attitude. Tell your hubby it is more of the same, except with some side effects thrown in to spice things up. As long as you are both ready, it will be very doable. Tell him (Matt said) to drink more, please. Don’t force food down if an Ensure or Boost will do the trick. Stay ahead (way ahead) of nausea and constipation and pain. Let nurses know of any changes or symptoms, they will have something.

Here is hoping the rest of treatments are as uneventful as this week.

Best,

Matt

luvofmylif

CivilMatt said:

one week down, almost
Hi Joan,

One week down (tomorrow), great start, great attitude. Tell your hubby it is more of the same, except with some side effects thrown in to spice things up. As long as you are both ready, it will be very doable. Tell him (Matt said) to drink more, please. Don’t force food down if an Ensure or Boost will do the trick. Stay ahead (way ahead) of nausea and constipation and pain. Let nurses know of any changes or symptoms, they will have something.

Here is hoping the rest of treatments are as uneventful as this week.

Best,

Matt

Thanks guys and I will pass
Thanks guys and I will pass on the drinking part. He told the dr he has 3 goals each day:

1. Wake up

2. Try to eat/drink

3. Try to not have food and drink come back up

Fun life.

hwt

luvofmylif said:

Thanks guys and I will pass
Thanks guys and I will pass on the drinking part. He told the dr he has 3 goals each day:

1. Wake up

2. Try to eat/drink

3. Try to not have food and drink come back up

Fun life.

one down
I didn't see watching the Cards on that list! Nutrition and hydration...nutrition and hydration...

phrannie51

Yeaaahhh....I think you've got it!!
The one day at a time, one foot in front of the other....one weeks down! Wonderful! And this is the way it goes...week after week until you're saying "only one more week to go!" and that time will come faster than you think.

Your husband's daily goals are perfect...and he only has to think of this day, never get into tomorrow.

My husband asked me after maybe 3 weeks why I was SO quiet in the mornings...the reason? I would spend that time kind of meditating, and putting my day into God's hands...letting Him carry me, instead of trying to do it on my own. It helped immensely.

p

patricke

TREATMENT JOURNEY
Hey Joan, let me add my voice to the encouragement crew. It's a long slow journey, and fight it is, which has to be taken one day at a time. Some days will be better than others, but he will reach the light at the end of the tunnel. With your love and support, along with, I trust, his positive, hit the ground running, I can do this attitude he will get there. Remember, this journey does take time (measured in months and years) and patience, a marathon, not a sprint, so keeping that in mind will help both of you make it through. During the most difficult, challenging times he will need to repeat the mantra "I can do this" (or whatever works for him)to himself, as many times as necessary to get thru it; sometimes you take one day at a time, and sometimes you take one nano second at a time.

PATRICK

ToBeGolden

Everyone Is Different
Since everyone is different, your husband will have to experiment to find what is best for him. One thing he might want to experiment with is the temperature of foods/drink. I eventually found that foods/liquids at body temperature were less painful that at their normal cold or warm temperatures. For example, water heated as for a baby did not taste as good in the mouth, but it hurt less on the way down. How temperature affects your husband will change as radiation progresses. I'm actually not suggesting any particular temperature; I'm only suggesting experimenting with some "not so normal" temperatures for food/liquids. Rick.

Pam M

I'm With You
Wondering/waiting before treatment was horrible. It did me a world of good to be able to look at my calendar on the wall, and see how far I'd progressed on the treatment schedule.

Five pounds in two days sounds reasonable (for "one of us"). I know I lost 9 or 10 pounds in one week early in treatment.