Friday marked the end of the first week of Shannon’s recovery from the radiation. I’m happy to say being done with that has made a difference. It’s a very gradual improvement but it is an improvement. His throat is still very sore and he still has a lot of trouble eating. He is still having to get his main nutrition from his Boost Plus but he is maintaining his weight with that. He is having much less problem with all the coughing and it’s easier for him to clear his throat now. As long as there is improvement we are both very happy. If he continues as he is, I think he will be much better by this time next week and hopefully able to eat some soft things by Christmas.
With the help of my hair dresser, Jo, who has become a very good friend to me over the time I’ve been going to her shop, all of our Christmas decorations are up and we are ready for the holiday quite a bit sooner than we usually are. Her help is appreciated even more than she knows. It looks so nice to see everything lit up and pretty and makes us feel so much happier and hopeful. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do that without her help.
I found one of our ornaments which is now our favorite one for the tree. It is the word “Hope” written in large golden letters. I put that near the top right in the front directly under the angel that sits at the top. That is now our tree of hope. We have a lot of hopes but the very most important one is hope that everything Shannon has been through will be successful and his cancer will be gone when they do his scans in January. His daily improvement helps us feed that hope. All the thoughts, prayers and support from our family and friends will be the thing that makes our hope come true.
This is Shannon’s last week of radiation… hooray! It has been very rough on him but having the end in sight helps a little bit. He is unable to eat any solids at all and keeping his weight loss to an acceptable level has become difficult. The doctor wasn’t very pleased with his weight loss this week. He is still over the acceptable total of weight loss but he is losing weight too fast right now. Five pounds a week for the past 2 weeks. We are working on raising his calorie intake and he’s been doing better with it the past couple of days. The combo of chemo and radiation together have taken a bit of a toll on him and he is weak and tired. Still fighting though and that’s what matters most. He and I are both still very hopeful that all this is going to be worth it in the end and he will have a good outcome.
The radiation oncologist has scheduled a CT scan for him the first week of January and we will see him again in the second week of January to go over those results and see where we go from there.
After our big scare last week, we have been in touch again with the chemo oncologist. He would like to do more chemo but doesn’t feel Shannon is quite up for it. We will be going back to see him again on December 19 and it is likely he will have at least one more treatment of chemo starting that day most likely. We will see that doctor first though and he can assess how Shannon is doing and make a better decision then. For right now the plan is to let Shannon rest and heal a little from the treatments, get his strength back up a little and then go from there. The chemo alone will probably not be as hard on him as the chemo radiation combination he’s been doing. They have assured us that waiting to continue the chemo will not hurt his outcome in the long run and it is much better for him to wait until he is stronger.
For now, we are waiting for Friday… the last day of radiation. We may not go out dancing but we will celebrate quietly and look forward to a time when he is well and feeling better. One day at a time is what we are trying to do but we are also trying to look forward to a better time. We know this is all going to work out and so we are still hopeful and determined not to let this rough patch get us down.
Just as the doctor said it would be Shannon has developed a very sore throat during this past week. It’s becoming more and more difficult for him to eat and he’s had to switch to eating liquid and very soft things. The Magic Mouthwash works but makes him sick when he takes it so this morning he had to take the stronger med. We had both hoped he would be among the 25% that wouldn’t need that one but anything that helps is a blessing. He is able to eat a little more today and keeping up with the nutrition is very important for him right now.
We received a great tip from a friend that has really helped. If you freeze Gatoraid it makes a great “slushie” that both soothes the throat and helps keep him hydrated. Another tip that has been helpful to us is that it’s better for him to try and eat lots of tiny meals and snacks than to try and get through a larger meal. Instant Breakfast is another good thing. So, lots of ways to get past the sore throat.
We are both still taking things day by day and we are going to make it through this. Even if things are getting a little harder to deal with, we are getting through it and will continue until it’s a thing of the past. We’ve been getting so much support from everyone and lots of prayers are being said. That is what is seeing us through this. We are nearly half way through too so that’s a good thing to know.