Skin

I wasn't sure if I should post pictures of my skin because it's pretty gross, but the after picture looks SO much better that I decided to go ahead. Throughout treatment it looked fine. It got redder and redder as the weeks went by. It was warm to the touch but it didn't hurt. The final week of treatment, however, it started to change. It was crusty and oozy and sore and tight. I looked it up and it's called a "moist reaction." I was given some cream with silver in it to put on my skin for soothing and drying. I also used an astringent solution that I used 4 or more times a day. Finally, last Friday, I was able to peel some dried skin off to find nice, pink, healthy skin underneath. And it's just gotten better from there. There's really just one spot, along my scar, that's still moist. I'm buying all sorts of sun hats to protect this new skin from the sun this summer. On a positive note, the doctor mentioned that the skin reaction was a good sign that near the surface of the skin, where the tumor margins were, got a significant dose of radiation. It kind of reminds me of the first months of pregnancy. If you feel sick that's good because it means your hormone levels are high!

Before

May 19th, 2010

Five days after final radiation treatment

After

May 23, 2010

Nine days after final radiation treatment

Upswing

I'm starting to feel a bit better today. Not normal yet, but not horrible anymore. I have thrush on my tongue and throat, so now I'm taking Diflucan. I did some normal stuff today: walked around the block, went outside with Bode, made the kids supper, and painted my nails.

All Done

I had my last treatment today. I'm glad it's over! I've lost 20 pounds, the skin on my neck is all crusty and gross, I can barely swallow, but I'm done. It can only get better from here.

Side Effects

I started to feel some side effects about 2 weeks after I started treatment. It really shook me up for awhile. They told me I would feel perfectly fine for at least 3 weeks! My mouth was tasting weird and my throat was a little sore. I know, it sounds minor, but my fear was that this was just the start. I was sure that every treatment day after that I would feel worse. I couldn't imagine how my throat would feel after 4 more weeks of treatment. I didn't really enjoy our out of town water park trip and I was feeling pretty low. I am happy to say that things didn't get incrementally worse every day, as I had expected. It's more of an up and down, one step forward two steps back kind of thing. I got some medicine for seasonal allergies, which helped because now I don't have so much stuff draining down the back of my throat. Now I'm in week 5, only 9 treatments left! My throat is more swollen than sore, although it does hurt. I have some weapons at my disposal: ibuprofen (which I now have to take in liquid form) to help with the pain and swelling, baking soda and salt water rinse to help with the bad taste in my mouth, mouthwash to help with dry mouth, and a mixture they call The Recipe that is Benadryl, Lidocaine, and Maalox to numb my throat and help with the swelling. I can't eat very much right now. Because of the swelling in my throat my choices are limited to soft and mushy. Because of the inflammation in my throat my choices are limited to mild foods-nothing acidic, or spicy, or fizzy (a sip of soda is excruciating). So I'm basically eating a tablespoon at a time of Fluffy Tapioca Cream, yogurt, soup, or refried beans thinned with sour cream. I'm losing weight and it's very hard not to be happy about that :) I'm just hoping I haven't lost too much strength and stamina. When this whole thing is over, I plan to do a lot of biking, canoeing, and general outdoor fun with my family. So here's the bottom line: Some days, or even parts of days, are bad, some are not so bad. I'm making it through and I'm almost done. What else could I ask for?