I was supposed to go see the radiation oncologist today for a check up. They were going to use the scope to check things out (have I mentioned how much fun that is?) and go over the CT Scan I had on Monday. Well... things didn't quite work out. I showed up at 2:00 for the appointment and the doctor wasn't there. Apparently my appointment was for 1:00, not 2:00. Normally I am pretty good about keeping a log of these things so I was trying to figure out how I made the mistake. What happened is that when they called to reschedule appointment two weeks ago I answered the phone, first mistake, and it was right about at the end of the at home chemo treatment. I vaguely remember something about the timing of the appointment and them mentioning the doctor had to leave at a certain time. I think what happened is that I wrote down 2:00, the time the doctor had to leave, and not 1:00 the appointment time. Now the appointment is scheduled for next Wednesday. While I am a bit disappointed in not getting the CT Scan results I am OK with having the scope delayed a bit. This is the test where they start a probe up my nose and work it back to the throat. All of the areas that are still tender. The last time they tried to do this they couldn't make all the way back there. My view is having another week to heal up before the test works for me. (Really... its a fun test... everyone should have one. ) :-)
All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go
So here I am, on the other side of town and nowhere to go. For those of you not familiar with Ithaca the other side of town is all of 10 minutes away. I had a need to pick up a item at Lowes and decided to head over there. It was mid afternoon so there wouldn't be a lot of people around and generally I am good for 2-3 hours mid afternoon these days so I figured why not. As expected the place was pretty much empty. I picked up the one item I needed and then proceeded to wander aimlessly around the isles just looking at things for awhile. Its been around 6 months since I have been in a hardware store. For those of you that don't know one of my hobbies is wood working. I also like to do home improvement projects. Going 6 months without stepping into Home Depot or Lowes is like being in exile. It took a lot of restraint not to want to buy half the stuff in the store. I did pick up one or two more small item. What I did do was just wander around to get some ideas for things I may do this summer.
Most of the time when I go to a store its with the intent to get specific items. Its normally on the weekend and I just want to get in and out of the store. Its not often that I just take a look around to see what else they have. For example Lowes has a much better selection of wood glues that I would have thought. (Yep... just look at all the useful information you get from this blog) And of course I did have to take a few minutes to browse through the tool section.
So while I may have made a mistake with the doctors appointment the afternoon wasn't a total loss. I did get to go on a field trip to a hardware store. That was definitely a worthwhile way to spend the afternoon.
I probably will not do another update until next week after I get the CT Scan results.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Chemo Update: Things are going well and a new CT Scan
Things are still going well. My voice is slowly getting better and I can hold a one or two sentence conversation now. My family appreciates that. Without talking I would try to communicate with mono syllable utterances or by pointing. Not only would I be the worlds worst charades player I think at times if I was video taped it could have been a winning entry for America's funniest home video's.
One change is that I am transitioning to a new feeding supplier and type of supply. I was consuming the number of cans of the old stuff per day that I was supposed to but continued to lose weight. I am currently down about 40 pounds. The new supplies should add about an additional 800 calories per day into the mix so hopefully I will level off and even gain a bit a weight. Not too much though. Some of the weight I need to gain back needs to be saved for going to chines es buffets, three chili dog lunches... and so on. The other change in tho feeding supplies is the new stuff is vanilla flavored. For those of you that don't know vanilla is one of my favorite flavors, not that I will be tasting this stuff. The old stuff was more like baby formula. To transition to the new stuff I am adding a can day. My body has been used to the old stuff for the last 4-5 months so I don't want to shock it all at once.
Part of the change I have made is going back to one can at a time feedings. I think this has helped quite a bit with how I am feeling during the day. With two cans at a time the volume was just a bit too much to be comfortable and I would end up having to stay relatively still to avoid setting off any "incidents" The advantage of 2 cans at a time is longer time between feedings. In my case that isn't a problem. The downside to single can feedings is that I have to use the PEG tube 8 times a day just for nutrition and then the additional times that I have to take medicine that doesn't fit into the feeding schedule. There have been days that I have used the PEG tube over 10 times. Its very disruptive because the setup and break down for doing the feedings is a few minutes. All in its 10-15 minutes per feeding.
Yesterday I had another CT scan done. This was planned awhile ago and it just a status check by the radiation oncologist. I see him on Thursday for a check up. The CT Scan was of the throat only. I can't feel any more lumps in my throat but that is what the CT scan is for. (Keep in mind this whole thing started because I thought I had a severe sinus infection. :-))One thing I am going to have to get used to over the next several years is the lag time between having a test done and getting the results back. I have no reason to think anything will show up on the test but occasionally I do have some apprehension as I wait for the results.
Unless something comes up my next post will be after I get the test results on Thursday and then when my last chemo treatment starts at the end of March. Yes... there is indeed an end in site and its coming soon. Yippee!
One change is that I am transitioning to a new feeding supplier and type of supply. I was consuming the number of cans of the old stuff per day that I was supposed to but continued to lose weight. I am currently down about 40 pounds. The new supplies should add about an additional 800 calories per day into the mix so hopefully I will level off and even gain a bit a weight. Not too much though. Some of the weight I need to gain back needs to be saved for going to chines es buffets, three chili dog lunches... and so on. The other change in tho feeding supplies is the new stuff is vanilla flavored. For those of you that don't know vanilla is one of my favorite flavors, not that I will be tasting this stuff. The old stuff was more like baby formula. To transition to the new stuff I am adding a can day. My body has been used to the old stuff for the last 4-5 months so I don't want to shock it all at once.
Part of the change I have made is going back to one can at a time feedings. I think this has helped quite a bit with how I am feeling during the day. With two cans at a time the volume was just a bit too much to be comfortable and I would end up having to stay relatively still to avoid setting off any "incidents" The advantage of 2 cans at a time is longer time between feedings. In my case that isn't a problem. The downside to single can feedings is that I have to use the PEG tube 8 times a day just for nutrition and then the additional times that I have to take medicine that doesn't fit into the feeding schedule. There have been days that I have used the PEG tube over 10 times. Its very disruptive because the setup and break down for doing the feedings is a few minutes. All in its 10-15 minutes per feeding.
Yesterday I had another CT scan done. This was planned awhile ago and it just a status check by the radiation oncologist. I see him on Thursday for a check up. The CT Scan was of the throat only. I can't feel any more lumps in my throat but that is what the CT scan is for. (Keep in mind this whole thing started because I thought I had a severe sinus infection. :-))One thing I am going to have to get used to over the next several years is the lag time between having a test done and getting the results back. I have no reason to think anything will show up on the test but occasionally I do have some apprehension as I wait for the results.
Unless something comes up my next post will be after I get the test results on Thursday and then when my last chemo treatment starts at the end of March. Yes... there is indeed an end in site and its coming soon. Yippee!
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