Northwoods Woman

And speaking of his treatments, Rick was able to get a picture of what he looked like in the Radiation room.  The mask over his face and shoulders helped them to pinpoint the area they needed to concentrate on, and it also kept him immobile by attaching to the table.

On his last day they gave him the mask to take home with him.  I think it will be used next Halloween in some fashion.

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Another new tidbit of information was that he will need to go through a type of physical therapy to help him swallow and talk, two things that are the most painful to him right now.

So even though we thought that getting through the radiation and chemo was the hardest part, it was just part one of his battle.  Now he starts part two which will in all likelihood will take another 2 months.

This is very frustrating and depressing to Rick, but as the Doctor told him, “Each week you will feel a little better… a little less pain than the week before.”

He’s been right about everything else up until this point, I gotta believe him on that one too.

Yep, we’ve made it to the final lap of the race.  One more week to go, or as we’ve been counting it down in our house:  5 more radiation treatments and 1 more chemo treatment.  Either way you slice it that finish line is finally in sight.

And let me tell you, it’s starting to really look beautiful after last week.

Week six was full of changes.  All of these past weeks have started to really take a toll on Rick’s body.  When the Doctor said that they were going to fry his throat, he wasn’t kidding in the least.  And when he said that Rick would be grateful that they put the stomach tube in before all this started, he didn’t know how true that was.

Rick has been struggling to eat because of how sore his throat was, so the decision was made to start going the “liquid” route.

Last Wednesday he started his tube feedings of this stuff.  It has all the calories and nutrition he needs to get him through the next few weeks until he starts to heal and can get back to normal food.  He takes 6 cartons a day to give him 1,500 calories, and we’ve marked each one of them so he doesn’t loose count.

Most of his water intake is through his tube also, but as we found out at today’s appointment, he’s not getting enough so he’s a little bit dehydrated.  The nurse told us that this was normal this far along in the treatment, so usually they start giving patients a liter of fluids each day they come for radiation.  He starts that extra boost tomorrow.

Another new kicker came on Saturday when Rick’s voice finally went out.  It’s been interesting trying to communicate the last few days.  He’s able to whisper some times, but mostly he just sends me a text or types something on his cell screen and shows it to me.  It puts a real crimp on him being able to work because he can’t answer the phone and if he wants to communicate with a customer face-to-face he’ll have to type it on his computer.

He also had a low-grade fever all weekend but his labs looked really good today, so I’m not sure what that was all about.  I’m just glad it didn’t turn into something big that would have delayed these last treatments.

Fingers crossed that Week Seven goes better.

This week’s puppy visit to the chemo room was Cash.  This beautiful boy is a 4 1/2-year-old English Lab who has been with his person John since he was old enough to be weaned from his Momma.

He went right up to Rick when he came into the room and was rewarded with some head scratches.  I think that he enjoys these visits just as much as I do, even if he won’t admit it.

Which means that there are 3 chemo appointments left.  You heard me right:  3.

When this whole thing started we were told 6 chemo treatments, but according to the Doctor (of course I asked 😉 ) the chemo appointments fall in line with the radiation appointments.  So in this forked up math equation, his last radiation treatment is November 4th, which is a Monday, so he will also be doing chemo that day.

If you’re wondering how we skipped/missed the 7th chemo appointment, I’m still trying to figure that one out too.

But, it’s neither here nor there, the fact remains that there are eight and we just have to live with it.  As long as it gets rid of the cancer that’s all that matters, right?

So week four was a good week for Rick.  The only “issue” was the yeast infection in his mouth was causing him quite a bit of discomfort and the radiation is really frying his throat.  He is on yet another prescription that the medical profession calls “Magic Mouthwash”, which numbs his mouth and throat.  Seems to be working well for him so he can continue to eat normally.

And of course we had our expected furry visitor.

Barkley is a 9 1/2-year-old Black Lab that was the size of a small horse.  Naturally I got down on the floor with him and gave him lots of snuggles and pets, while Rick chatted away with his person Lisa.

I think that it’s wonderful that Marshfield Clinic has this program.  This is the highlight of my Monday’s lately, and I think Rick is tolerating enjoying it too.