Rob Update

I am happy to say Rob is doing very well. Some taste has come back. He says that he would rather have saliva than taste. Time i tell him, just give it time.

He no longer is napping in the day although I can hold the couch down pretty well on the weekend. We also joked that he should be a barcalounger tester and I a couch tester.

He is eating really well and is so happy no more PEG. He sleeps more every night, in fact I beat him out of bed this morning, hence the nap. 

He did lose almost 40 pounds, which really was good for him, just not the way it had to happen. He looks better to me everyday. At the end of treatment and the few weeks after, I was not sure he was going to make. 

He is not back to work yet but hoping to at least go back to the office work in a couple of weeks. His boss told him, whatever he needs. He is a gravel train driver but no way is he ready to be jumping in and out of a truck and hauling around heavy crap all day. So he most likely will be dispatching a littlte while til full strenth is back.

He is back to cutting the grass, although most weeks it takes him 2 days as it is over 5 miles of walking to do it all. He has been helping me in the garden and spending a lot of time outside. He is feel good enough to be stir crazy doing nothing.

We are still fighting getting off the meds. He only takes 5mg of Oxy at bedtime but we are cutting it back a half ml at a time. Slow and steady is working better than the docs recommended. He still gets the jerking/twitching some nights but the meds take care of it for sleep.

We ahd a great weekend away at the lake last weekend and had a great time. He captained the boat while we all did some fishing. He is not really a fisher and the rest of us fake it pretty good. Caught nothing legal but had fun just sitting in the middle of the lake cracking jokes and singing off tune all the while having to call hime El Capitan. We almost through his cockey butt over board.

Hoping everyone is doing as well or at least reading here that you will be. PET scheduled on Sept 16.

Sandy

 

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    nothing fishy here

    Sandy & Rob,

    Sounds like he is improving every day and doing pretty darn good in spite of what has happened to him.  I can take a nap at the drop of a hat myself.

    Keep healing and you will be hauling heavy loads and having clean scans ahead of you.

    Matt

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    Sandy....

    He's doing his recovery the perfect way....slow and steady....getting his strength back week by week.  Plus having some fun times along the way....wonderful!!

    Six months out and this past six months will start taking one a "distance"....I don't know how that works, but the only time the distance gets cut short for me is right at scan time.

    p

  • fishmanpa
    fishmanpa Member Posts: 1,227 Member
    Coming along fine!

    Sandy,

    It sounds like Rob is coming along just fine. he will get even better too. It just takes time. My biggest boost came with my NED a couple weeks ago. I'm still healing and will be for some time but it did wonders for me mentally. That along with some increased saliva production and a little more energy is a big plus. 

    The fatigue will be there for a while and it'll take a while as well for his strength to return. I used to have no issues lifting heavy things but now I feel like the guy who gets sand kicked in his face at he beach. Again, time, patience and work are the keys to gaining back the things we've lost due to "Jack". Acceptance is key as well as there will be some things that never return to pre-cancer days.

    The weaning of the drugs will come in time as well. You may want to ask the docs about tramadol. It's a lighter non-narcotic pain reliever. I was prescribed it by my GP when I had the nerve pain issue. My team said I could use that as well as ibuprofen as I wean off the narcs. The last couple of days I've only taken one 5mg oxy at bedtime. During the day, I've replaced the other dose with a tramadol and it's working. I'll wean off of them as well and go to the ibuprofen when needed. 

    It's great you got to get away for some R&R. It's things like that that help us return to some assemblance of normalcy. 

    Continued healing and positive news.

    "T"

  • jim and i
    jim and i Member Posts: 1,788 Member
    So happy to hear he is

    So happy to hear he is recovering so well. Praying that first scan is NED

    Debbie

  • Duggie88
    Duggie88 Member Posts: 760 Member
    Sandy

    Sounds like El Capitan is doing pretty darn good. Sounds like the road is starting to smoothen out a bit. Life is good

          Jeff

  • hwt
    hwt Member Posts: 2,328 Member
    Duggie88 said:

    Sandy

    Sounds like El Capitan is doing pretty darn good. Sounds like the road is starting to smoothen out a bit. Life is good

          Jeff

    Sandy & Rob

    Glad to hear the great news! Continued good wishes

    Candi

  • CherieLW
    CherieLW Member Posts: 472
    Sandy,
    Glad to hear that Rob

    Sandy,

    Glad to hear that Rob is getting his sense of humor back :)  Something that dad's getting too! Here's to hoping that he continues recovering well.  Prayers for you both!

    Cherie

  • donfoo
    donfoo Member Posts: 1,773 Member
    Happy for you

    Glad things are progressing smoothly on the recovery road. It does take time so you need to be patient, maybe more so than earlier. Changes and improvements come at a slower pace so you need to think weeks and months rather than days and weeks. Even so, you notice them as they come along. Best to you, don

  • TracyLynn72
    TracyLynn72 Member Posts: 839
    Great news!

    So glad to read that Rob is doing better and better!  It's such a slow process, but once you start feeling human again...it's such a blessing!!

  • Ruben and Jude
    Ruben and Jude Member Posts: 155
    Yeah

    Thank you for the postive post. So glad to hear Rob is coming along nicely. One day at a time.

    Laughing