Two week post treatment encouragement

This was just a few days ago, so more of the same, although some of his taste is leaving instead of returning.  Hopefully, he won't lose too much more.

Sounds like you are doing pretty well and have been on a very simliar path of treatment.  Sleep is good - it is a healing time for your body without you interferring.  Keep up the exercise, I've heard that is very helpful.  And I've also heard the hair/beard regrowth can take from 3-6 months.  And LOL on the maintenance, that seems to be nearly a full-time job.  We'll have to check in again in a few weeks and compare.   Take it easy!

BTW, are you still on pain meds? 

Zoinks, just typed out a long reply and lost it!  I'll try to remember what I wrote...

My husband's treatment sounds very similar to what you have experienced so far.  We also have teens at home.  It was a little different for us, however, since the cancer center where my husband was treated is about three hours away from our home.  He was able to stay there and work on his laptop and needed to have a caregiver with him at all times, not because it was necessary for him physically, but it was a requirement for the place we were staying.  I was with him about 75% of the time and his mom and sister provided coverage as well while I was at home with our kids.  It was definitely a team effort and logistics that only held together with much prayer.  If you are at home and going daily to treatment, your experience will be much different and you should be good for the first few weeks of treatment with your wife continuing to work.  Friends and family are probably offering to help.  This is when they can help in very concrete ways such as driving you back and forth to radiation, driving your kids somewhere, picking up a bag of groceries, dropping off a meal, or arranging a mealtrain type of thing online.  The meals, even if you may not be eating them, will make life much easier for your wife and kids.  It is also nice to have the companionship with you in the radiation waiting room and especially at chemo.  Support is very important and people definitely want to help, so you have to allow them to receive the blessing sometimes.  Older people, especially those retired, have flexible schedules and many love to serve others in their free time.  We were so blessed by some older folks.  They often can deal with the issues surrounding treatment better since either they themselves or others they know have been through it.  Also, your kids will be able to help you more than you may expect and they might need small jobs to know what to do to get through this.  It is hard for kids to see their dad (or any close family member) go through a hard time.  One of our kids became chief protein drink/jello/pudding maker and the other helped with my husband's daily exercises and massaged his shoulders from time to time.  They also played video games together occasionally, which was a good distraction.  They felt helpless, but these small things helped us get through as a team.

I guess it really depends on your wife's hours and line of work, flexibility, commute, etc.  I would probably suggest that she take off the week or two following your treatment to support you during that tricky time, if you are trying to plan ahead.  I'll be thinking of you and praying for you as you get started.  You'll be counting down the days and ringing the bell before you know it! Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try my best to answer them.

The countdown has begun, you can do this!  Getting exercise by walking and getting into nature helps, I know it helps me a lot as well as my husband.  You have to remember all the great things you are fighting for. Nature can have such a peaceful, calming effect as opposed to large radiation machines and dragging an iv pole around!  It is a good time of year to get this done, by summer it will be behind you and you'll be here helping others through.  Hang in there, the prayers will continue.