So I almost finished the first part of the radiation and then I find myself so bloated in the upper abdomen -you would have sworn I had twins in there. Turns out the tumour is partially blocking the small intestine and I am backed up something fierce. Sloan decide to admit me for 8 days, and proceed to starve me for 7 of them with no water or food -like I need the weight loss. Brilliant. I am discharged and told to go on a low fibre diet.
What the bloody hell does that mean? Well, you soon find out it means you cant eat much of anything that's tasty. Very few veggies, green beans, asparagus -tips only, carrots, white spuds -no skin and beets. And that's it, and to make it worse, everything has to be overcooked like mushy veggies and cremated meat. And here we are in the summer with all the fresh veggies and salad stuffs that I cant have. Very few fresh fruits and no skin under any circumstances. Such a bugger. And of course Sue and I love to eat out, and we still do, but it does make it tough at times figuring out what I can eat off the menu. Surprising how many restaurants will not make changes to accommodate dietary needs. Stuck up snobs.
I never finished the radiation therapy because I ended up in hospital. So after I'm out I go and the oncologist in the city. He comes up with another chemo drug to try -we're scraping the bottom of the barrel now. So I just finished the second cycle of a 4 weeks cycle. Also went to see the radiology doctor to see if she could figure out a way to get me some radiation to help shrink back the tumour more quickly. She took a scan but alas she thinks there is no way to get to the tumour without impacting the intestine, and the bladder has had all the radiation it can take. Unfortunately that looks like a dead end. So I am hoping the current chemo drug is working -low percentage of 10% effectiveness though. But maybe I am the one out of ten. Should find out in 3 or 4 weeks.
Meanwhile I am getting a bit more used to the diet, but it's still tough when I see people eating things like clams and oysters (oh yum) at the raw bar -makes my mouth water, literally. If the chemo is working, then I should be able to go back to a more normal diet, hopefully before the bloody summer ends. And on the upside, I actually gained 2 lbs this past week. It's been a long time since that has happened.
So now it's summer concert time and we are busying ourselves with seeing those that I can get to. life is a bit day by day at the moment -good days and not so brill days. So I take advantage of the days when I am feeling not so bad and we go out, even if it's just for ice cream. Got to make the most of the good weather while it's warm. We manage to get to the beach most weekends for a few hours. I find it so therapeutic, but funnily enough a bit tiring though nothing that half an hour on the couch doesn't fix.
So that's all the news for now untill I get my scan results and see what's what.
What the bloody hell does that mean? Well, you soon find out it means you cant eat much of anything that's tasty. Very few veggies, green beans, asparagus -tips only, carrots, white spuds -no skin and beets. And that's it, and to make it worse, everything has to be overcooked like mushy veggies and cremated meat. And here we are in the summer with all the fresh veggies and salad stuffs that I cant have. Very few fresh fruits and no skin under any circumstances. Such a bugger. And of course Sue and I love to eat out, and we still do, but it does make it tough at times figuring out what I can eat off the menu. Surprising how many restaurants will not make changes to accommodate dietary needs. Stuck up snobs.
I never finished the radiation therapy because I ended up in hospital. So after I'm out I go and the oncologist in the city. He comes up with another chemo drug to try -we're scraping the bottom of the barrel now. So I just finished the second cycle of a 4 weeks cycle. Also went to see the radiology doctor to see if she could figure out a way to get me some radiation to help shrink back the tumour more quickly. She took a scan but alas she thinks there is no way to get to the tumour without impacting the intestine, and the bladder has had all the radiation it can take. Unfortunately that looks like a dead end. So I am hoping the current chemo drug is working -low percentage of 10% effectiveness though. But maybe I am the one out of ten. Should find out in 3 or 4 weeks.
Meanwhile I am getting a bit more used to the diet, but it's still tough when I see people eating things like clams and oysters (oh yum) at the raw bar -makes my mouth water, literally. If the chemo is working, then I should be able to go back to a more normal diet, hopefully before the bloody summer ends. And on the upside, I actually gained 2 lbs this past week. It's been a long time since that has happened.
So now it's summer concert time and we are busying ourselves with seeing those that I can get to. life is a bit day by day at the moment -good days and not so brill days. So I take advantage of the days when I am feeling not so bad and we go out, even if it's just for ice cream. Got to make the most of the good weather while it's warm. We manage to get to the beach most weekends for a few hours. I find it so therapeutic, but funnily enough a bit tiring though nothing that half an hour on the couch doesn't fix.
So that's all the news for now untill I get my scan results and see what's what.
Happy summer and be well to all.
Chris
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