My treatments were behind me, with nothing but rest and convalescence in front of me. Make no mistake, the rest was sorely needed. I was very fatigued so I still slept quite a lot. It took a few months but once I started getting some strength back and my immune system strengthened up a bit, I wanted to go out and do something, anything. I was getting antsy. Continue reading Convalescence and Enjoying Life Again
Day 0: the day of my last cancer treatment! Thirty-three radiation treatments, two chemo sessions, countless doctor/oncology appointments, in-home nurses coming and going, PICC line flushes, feeding tube mishaps, a multitude of transfusions and it comes down to this, my very last radiation session. Continue reading My Last Cancer Treatment! Bang the gong!
Back to Sunnybrook for my third and last chemo session. We go through the familiar routine of checking in, getting blood work done, then a visit with the triage nurse to review the results. We already knew from my second chemo session that I was not physically handling the side effects of chemo well, so we waited with anticipation (and a little trepidation) to see what today’s blood tests would reveal. Continue reading Third and last chemo session
This morning I received a package from Sunnybrook hospital. It was a large envelope containing a CD with some very interesting material. It’s neither good nor bad, but I’m 99.99% sure that most of you have never seen anything like it before. Continue reading The treatments are nearly done and I need a new mask
Along with all of the daily radiation treatments and in-home nurse visits, my busy schedule had to accommodate regular clinic visits as well. At first they occurred more than once a week, and then after treatment ended the time between visits was increased. It was important that every aspect of my health and other aspects of my well-being were monitored. Continue reading Clinic Visits
After the second chemo session and halfway through my radiation treatments, my ongoing fatigue was becoming worse; however, uglier side effects from my treatments gradually began to arise. Continue reading More treatment side effects: they’re getting ugly
Two weeks into my treatment schedule and it’s time for another chemotherapy session. Chemo session two, however, didn’t exactly go as expected. Continue reading Chemo session two: not as expected
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” This line is an adaptation from the poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns. It reminds us, as everyone is aware, that no matter how hard you try to avoid it, the unexpected can happen. And this was definitely the case when I experienced some radiation treatment hiccups.
The first couple of weeks of treatments were uneventful. A little nausea after the chemo treatment, and some pain across my collar bones and into my underarms from the tumour. It was definitely nothing that a few painkillers and anti-emetics couldn’t remedy. It was shortly after that when I started to feel the side effects from radiation treatment that I’d been warned about.
Continue reading Starting to Feel the Side Effects
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”
― Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown’s Little Book of Wisdom
I’ve had a lot of people ask a lot of different questions, and one of the most asked questions was “what happened on a typical treatment day?” Continue reading My typical cancer treatment day