So......week three is history....

phrannie51
phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
it's Friday night, and I don't have to go for amifostine or rads tomorrow...whoo hoo!! I'm tired, but other than that, I feel pretty darn good. No sore throat....yet. I'm eating whatever I want to eat...plus backing things up with liquid nutrition.

My taste buds started to change today...I remember the actual moment...LOL. Water that tasted so good in the early morning, suddenly tasted like I'd added soda to it....blech...weird, it just happened so fast.

Mouth sores came and went with the help of MuGuard and my soda/salt rinse...so I quit drooling (small blessings mean a lot :))...

Have my second chemo on Tuesday...for some reason, this time it makes me nervous...maybe cuz I didn't feel good for several days after. I really don't like that walking nausea...not enough to throw up, just enough to feel puny.

Now I need to hear Laralyn's 4th week update to know what to expect next week....love being able to follow in her footsteps....You always has such good ideas.

A week from today, I will be over the 1/2 mark of radiation....YES YES YES!! First time in my life I feel legit in wishing my life away...so yeah, I can hardly wait till next week at this time.

Somewhere along the way, I know I'm going to need an amifostine pep-talk...it really does put a damper on a day. I've gotten so I can hardly stand the smell of alcohol swabs or the smell of the blood pressure kit (the rubber)...has to be association between that and the "daily sick shot"...

Laralyn.......how goes it with you at the end of week 4?

p

Comments

  • Tim6003
    Tim6003 Member Posts: 1,514 Member
    #2
    Great job Phrannie
    Hi Phrannie ....just wanted you to know that I have bee keeping up with you and the others ...saying prayers for you every night without fail ...good to see you and Laralyn hanging together ....

    I'm impressed by your attitude ...keep up the good work ...

    ttyl...

    Tim & Jennifer / Idaho
  • Ingrid K
    Ingrid K Member Posts: 813
    #3
    Tim6003 said:

    Great job Phrannie
    Hi Phrannie ....just wanted you to know that I have bee keeping up with you and the others ...saying prayers for you every night without fail ...good to see you and Laralyn hanging together ....

    I'm impressed by your attitude ...keep up the good work ...

    ttyl...

    Tim & Jennifer / Idaho

    sense of smell increases dramatically
    Phrannie, you are doing really good and one more week down, yeah !! one thing I wanted to mention is that as your taste buds bail out on you, your sense of smell will get really really strong..one reason that some things will now add to your nausea..like the alcohol swabs and the blood pressure cuffs. That was one thing that drove me crazy....and it's still amazing what I can smell....I could give my golden retriever a run for his money. Glad you are doing well-Keep up the good work.
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #4
    Ingrid K said:

    sense of smell increases dramatically
    Phrannie, you are doing really good and one more week down, yeah !! one thing I wanted to mention is that as your taste buds bail out on you, your sense of smell will get really really strong..one reason that some things will now add to your nausea..like the alcohol swabs and the blood pressure cuffs. That was one thing that drove me crazy....and it's still amazing what I can smell....I could give my golden retriever a run for his money. Glad you are doing well-Keep up the good work.

    I didn't know that Ingrid.......
    I thought I was just getting sensitive because of the "doings" when I smell these smells. I walk into the oncologist's building, and say to Greg.."Gawd, this place smells bad"...and he says he can't smell anything. Same with the radiation place.

    Started giggling when I thought...."now I know how my dog feels"....LOL. His favorite trick with me at night when we're walking, is he can smell a cat but I can't see it or smell it....and he'll take off with me in tow. If I've got to live with this enhanced nose, maybe I'll finally be one up on him....I'll smell the cat, and we can go in a different direction.

    I'm kidding of course........but wouldn't THAT be handy!! :)

    p
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #5
    Tim6003 said:

    Great job Phrannie
    Hi Phrannie ....just wanted you to know that I have bee keeping up with you and the others ...saying prayers for you every night without fail ...good to see you and Laralyn hanging together ....

    I'm impressed by your attitude ...keep up the good work ...

    ttyl...

    Tim & Jennifer / Idaho

    Thanks Tim....
    I take all prayers with gratitude.....it means a lot to me that you keep me in them every night!

    p
  • Laralyn
    Laralyn Member Posts: 532
    #6
    phrannie51 said:

    Thanks Tim....
    I take all prayers with gratitude.....it means a lot to me that you keep me in them every night!

    p

    Hey, Phrannie!
    Glad to hear you're doing great! It feels good to get one week after another behind you, doesn't it? :-)

    And thanks for asking after me. I'm just about to post an update, but when I saw you asking about me last night, it made me smile. I was so sleepy that I wanted to take advantage of it and post in the morning, which is the only reason I waited.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #7
    Amifostine...
    What's the pep talk you need....

    It is a hard drug to endure, most don't... But if you're lucky you'll be able to handle it if not for the long all pretty close. I'm sure as much as you can will be of benefit.

    I think I lasted for 32 out of 35...I started getting bad fevers or chills and eliminated the Amifostine to see if that was it. But I was already finished with chemo when that hit, just had a few rads sessions left.

    The only thing that really bothered me with them (other than getting injections in the tummy everyday), was the dry itchy spot about the size of a quarter they would leave for a few days.

    To help relieve the itch, the nurses would rotate where I got the injections.

    For me I couldn't really tell if it was helping or not during treatment.

    But I did not ever have the thick ropey choking phlegm some speak of. And I did eventually get nearly if not entirely all taste back, as well as a good 95% of saliva.

    So rough them out as long as you can... I do feel they helped me.

    Best,
    John
  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #8
    Skiffin16 said:

    Amifostine...
    What's the pep talk you need....

    It is a hard drug to endure, most don't... But if you're lucky you'll be able to handle it if not for the long all pretty close. I'm sure as much as you can will be of benefit.

    I think I lasted for 32 out of 35...I started getting bad fevers or chills and eliminated the Amifostine to see if that was it. But I was already finished with chemo when that hit, just had a few rads sessions left.

    The only thing that really bothered me with them (other than getting injections in the tummy everyday), was the dry itchy spot about the size of a quarter they would leave for a few days.

    To help relieve the itch, the nurses would rotate where I got the injections.

    For me I couldn't really tell if it was helping or not during treatment.

    But I did not ever have the thick ropey choking phlegm some speak of. And I did eventually get nearly if not entirely all taste back, as well as a good 95% of saliva.

    So rough them out as long as you can... I do feel they helped me.

    Best,
    John

    That's the kind of pep talk I mean, John....
    ...reminding me of the long term benefits. As you said, you don't notice anything while you're taking them and getting rads....Foso for the time being, all I feel is the "daily sick". I'm not getting injections in the tummy (thank gawd). I go in, they hydrate me, then give me an anti-nausea drip......then blast the injection into the tube. I hate the feeling of amifostine..it's a nasty rush across the chest and into the neck. Then immediately I'm headed to rads...I always feel so sloppy and slow, but have to be in a rush...it's just uncomfortable, not undoable. Thank gawd hubby takes me everyday, or I'd have to sleep in the parking lot for 2 or 3 hours before driving home.

    I'll probably need more than one pep talk as time goes on...LOL.

    p
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #9
    phrannie51 said:

    That's the kind of pep talk I mean, John....
    ...reminding me of the long term benefits. As you said, you don't notice anything while you're taking them and getting rads....Foso for the time being, all I feel is the "daily sick". I'm not getting injections in the tummy (thank gawd). I go in, they hydrate me, then give me an anti-nausea drip......then blast the injection into the tube. I hate the feeling of amifostine..it's a nasty rush across the chest and into the neck. Then immediately I'm headed to rads...I always feel so sloppy and slow, but have to be in a rush...it's just uncomfortable, not undoable. Thank gawd hubby takes me everyday, or I'd have to sleep in the parking lot for 2 or 3 hours before driving home.

    I'll probably need more than one pep talk as time goes on...LOL.

    p

    Anytime....
    They are most effective within the first 15 minutes or so just prior to rads.
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    #10
    Skiffin16 said:

    Anytime....
    They are most effective within the first 15 minutes or so just prior to rads.

    amifostine
    Cannot provide any encouragment about the stuff, P51, because I never got it, for whatever reason. My saliva took a major hit, but it seems that's the way it is with all of us. And I was eating most anything I wanted after some 4-months. So, not sure about the stuff.

    Sounds like you're doing great with handling the mouth symptoms, which includes using things I never knew about until your bus starting rolling- for everyone's benefit. I never did, but back in the day if I had made inquiries about what I could put in my mouth to help, a certain someone mighta suggested stuffing a carp or catfish into it! And now y'all are using things that really make a Positive difference- that's progress you are helping to do.

    Hope your next chemo goes all right. Is what it is, Phrannie. You're getting the rads, too, with your concurrent regiment, so I know it's not been a cakewalk, and the road might get a bit rougher up ahead. Thing is, most of us been on a road just as rough, or even rougher, and we made it okay. Only one thing matters, now, Phrannie- killing the C. Nothing else matters. Keep your Drs in the Loop with how you're physically dealing with it all, so they know to help, and then come what may. Times untypical in life are times we make the memories of our lives. You're there, as are the others on the bus. Years from now you all will stop for a second in your busy lives, and you will remember what you went thru to get to that time- years from now.

    Believe

    kcass

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