Fresh Update, Hot Off The Grill!

I am heavily under the influence of narcotics -- currently taking betwixt 2 & 3 times the original dosage of dilaudid prescribed for me -- but it's made the pain manageable. I'm wincing, not hollering, and that's a big, big, improvement.

Here's what's going on...

There is a lymph node at my clavicle that is presumed to be cancerous -- it's big and swollen and it's presumed to be pressing on a nerve, thus the bigbig pain.

I will be receiving a course of radiation treatments to that area, to reduce the size of the lymph node and therefore decrease the pain.

I went to meet with the radiation oncologist today. He looks a bit like Peter Fonda. He said that my treatment will probably be between 10 and 30 consecutive weekdays. He will have more information about that after seeing CT Scan results. I will be having the ct scan done on Friday (tomorrow).

The radiation will be given to the area of my clavicle and neck. The idea is to give the area a "full dose" of radiation -- the maximum amount of radiation the area can receive. Anticipated side effects are fatigue and local skin irritation, similar to a sunburn. That's what I experienced three years ago when I received radiation therapy.

The radiation will not impact my heart, but will most likely catch part of my lung. It will be an area of my lung that is small enough that it will not have a clinical effect. It will also likely impact my throat. He said I could anticipate a sore throat, but that the soreness should be slight.

Next steps for me will most likely include chemotherapy, but I am engaging in a first-things-first philosophy. I don't need to complete my radiation therapy before having the "chemo chat" with my oncologist, but I do need to be more settled in... and feeling less groggy would be good, as well.

The plan is:

Continue with dilaudid for pain.

Tomorrow (Friday): "Dry run" radiation (for set up purposes... like a rehearsal) and tattooing (outlining the area to be radiated -- you may have noticed the little blue dots on my chest from my earlier radiation treatment). This all happens at the East Bay Cancer Center in Hayward.

Full Body CT Scan at Kaiser Oakland.

Weekend: Whole heap o' nothing, thank you very much.

Monday: First radiation treatment ... time as yet undetermined. I would also like to return to work, even if it's just for a few hours.

Every day after Monday: Who knows???

I am pretty drugged up, and so communication is difficult. I've been terribly itchy lately, and I've lost my little wooden back scratcher. Bad timing, because I have limited mobility, and really it's the perfect tool for the job.

Last night, I started using a pen to scratch my back, with satisfactory results. Unfortunately, I was so wacky that I didn't realize that there was no CAP on the pen, and that I was actually drawing all over my back.

It really is about having the right tool for the job, isn't it?

Thanks for all of your nice emails -- Eric and I 'preciate all of your kind words and offers of help.