Month: January 2008

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Keeping it positive…

rbspecht

Well, we’re trying to stay positive out here, in spite of the challenges. Most of the nausea due to the chemo seems to have subsided today, but what I assume to be the radiation treatment is making most of the foods that I try totally unpalatable. The feeling of ‘burn’ on the back of my tongue that I was warned about seems to be starting. Damned bad timing, really, as my speech almost seems normal. And those bloody hiccups keep coming back at odd moments. If nothing else, however, the hiccups remind me that I need to keep consuming fluids … Continue reading Keeping it positive…

chlorpromazine, hiccups, vomitingLeave a comment

Hiccups are bad. Hate ’em.

rbspecht

The continuing fallout from chemo therapy seems to be centering around the hiccups that keep coming back and back and back. This morning, after radiation (by the way, they cut the eyes out of the Iron Maiden for me!) we waited to see Dr. Koski and her intern to see what can/should be done about the hiccups. They have become absolutely disruptive to everything… my sleeping, my eating, my drinking. (Hell, the whole chemo thing is devastating my drinking, not just the hiccups. I can’t keep up with my scotch consumption… just kidding!) What happens is that I get sudden … Continue reading Hiccups are bad. Hate ’em.

cisplatin, Cross Cancer Institute, projectile vomiting, vomitingLeave a comment
rbspecht

What a disaster! By 7 PM last night I had vomited up absolutely everything in my system and was beginning to work on all of the accumulated fluids in my system… talk about a ‘cleanse’! My urinary output was virtually Nil. I had also been hiccuping almost non-stop since noon. The ‘almost non-stop’ was for about half an hour after vomiting, then the damned hiccups would start again. My guts were sore, I hadn’t been able to keep anything down, I was becoming dehydrated. So, after a number of consultations with the Cross (including a mid afternoon call with Nicola, … Continue reading

cisplatin, hiccups, projectile vomiting, vagasLeave a comment

First Chemotherapy and First Radiation

rbspecht

Indications of the imminent approach of a tidal wave, as verified on tape and anecdotally during the Boxing Day tidal wave in Thailand several years ago, was (or is) the slow withdrawing of all the water back from the beach, in some areas as much as several kilometers away from the coastline. Once withdrawn, there is a ‘pause, two, three, four’ and then the water comes screaming back towards and then over the beachlines/coastlines and well inland.At 2:00 am this morning, I had a mild hiccup which woke me. My immediate thought was that the bought of hiccups that I … Continue reading First Chemotherapy and First Radiation

Koski, taste, tongueLeave a comment

Lining it all up…

rbspecht

I woke this morning with my tongue and jaw in rebellion. Stiff, uncooperative, its been a chore most of the day to speak, to swallow, to clear my mouth, to swipe my teeth. That very distinctive metallic sensation (not quite a taste, remember?) is back and it is affecting what I try to eat. Lunch was meaningless. Two cookies were almost as tasty as sawdust. A glass of milk felt right. The glass of chardonnay that I just tried was putrid. My neck motion feels restricted, though I can see in the mirror that it is not.Up early this morning … Continue reading Lining it all up…

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Time to build the delivery roster

rbspecht

Tomorrow morning I head back to the Cross to start what I hope is the last round of prep before we seriously get into the therapies. At 0900 I will go to the lab, tell them the real truth about the stuff I’ve been putting into my body lately, allow them the samples of my precious fluids and wait for them to tell me that I’m healthy enough to get on with things. At 1000 I am scheduled for some sort of ‘exam’ with the Chemotherapy department; I don’t have a lot of detail, but I suspect this one will … Continue reading Time to build the delivery roster

Adaptic, forearm flap, skin graphLeave a comment

The Glove(s) are off… sort of.

rbspecht

Working with information provided by the surgeon’s office, as relayed to me by my Home Care nurse, today I am changing the way the forearm flap skin graft area is bandaged. The wound is essentially healed and no longer needs the layer upon layer of protection. So, no more Adaptic. We’re doing away with the gauzes. Just the tubi-form, or elastic bandage will be rolled on to prevent damage to the wound site. Yay!So now its just a matter of applying moisturizers a couple times a day, and protecting the site from extremes of hot and cold, and not using … Continue reading The Glove(s) are off… sort of.

spinal accessory nerve, tongueLeave a comment

Quality of Light and Quality of Life

rbspecht

Snow is falling this morning, in big fluffy flakes that remind me of my childhood in Ontario. Unlike most of the snow that we see here in the greater Edmonton area, the snow this morning has a feel like the softness of falling goose down. And being this far north, with the snow, the quality of light is fascinating… but it is exactly that quality of light, and the colour and texture of the sky which makes it so difficult to get a good photograph of the falling snow…The quality of light in the kitchen this morning was not so … Continue reading Quality of Light and Quality of Life

Adaptic, cancer, forearm flap, mucking gloves, radial artery, skin graphLeave a comment

Forearm Flap Healing Well

rbspecht

Here are another couple of shots of my forearm skin graft over the area the surgeons took the flap of skin to rebuild the back of my throat (and part of my tongue?). As you can see, it is healing extremely well. In fact, if it weren’t for the need to protect the newly healed area from being damaged by clothing and general, everyday activity, it probably doesn’t need the bandages anymore. As it is in an area that is subjected to incidental contact with way too many things, we are continuing to cover it. Tight to the skin is … Continue reading Forearm Flap Healing Well