It’s all energy, even radiation energy

Well I am back home from a 30-day stay in Jacksonville, after completing a total of 15 days (3wks) of chemo/radiation.

It was a humbling experience from day one. I was so confident that nausea wouldn’t affect me, especially after 6 months of chemo, but I was sorely mistaken. I quickly learned the almighty power of the Zofran pill, which luckily kept me steady for the rest of radiation sessions. If not for that, I would have lost so much weight.

To recap, I received 3-5 minutes of daily radiation targeting the lymph nodes around my lower back and stomach, they focused on radiating a larger area from my original scans last December. During this time I was also taking Capecitabine (chemo pill) 2x daily to assist.

I was given a warning that radiation would hit me harder in the last week and that too was very accurate. I had the typical fatigue and malaise that one gets, but on those last few days of the last week, I got intense swallowing pain. Since this radiation is photon-based, it can do some collateral damage to nearby muscles and organs and eating had become difficult. Luckily, they gave me Rx to ease the inflammation (Carafate and Magic Mouthwash to swallow) and exactly how my radiologist predicted, within 7 days after finishing I would be feeling much better, and I did.

Though in midst of all this, I was also struggling with a secondary health issue that began BEFORE chemo/radiation. It seems like I am currently dealing with Inter-cranial Hypotension. Something that came out of nowhere and has slowly increased in pain with ongoing new symptoms. This got me so concerned that I had to visit the ER department at Mayo where I got admitted for three nights while they ran tests. MRI Brain, CT Venogram, Spinal Tap, etc. Luckily it doesn’t seem like I have any major vein or artery issues, nor has anything metastasized to that area. Thank heavens. But at the same time, they are just “GUESSTIMATING” what I have. I was placed on Diamox (Rx diuretic) to see if it alleviates my head pressure/ear sounds/visual disturbances.

There is a part of me that wonders how I will be able to handle recovery from my upcoming major surgery along with this new health concern.

NEXT STEPS
We will be flying back to Jacksonville on Aug 12^th to run my final scans for clearance (MRI of Abdomen and Pelvis and CT of the chest) before surgery.

Time is going so fast now and I can admit the nervousness is in high gear.

Here are some photos as always, thank you for reading!