…words from the very balding Dr. Jha, the radiation oncologist in charge of my radiation therapy as he listened, patiently, to my litany of complaints late this morning. I was complaining about my beard having been burned out, and off, the thinning hair at the back of my head down to the base of my neck. We get time with him once a week (unless we need more) to discuss the effects of the radiation. Today I did throw in some additional stuff about the fatigue that seems to be a direct result of last week’s chemo therapy session. We also managed to slide into a discussion about the grabbing feeling at the juncture between esophagus/diaphragm/stomach. He wrote me a prescription to try: Pantoloc. This evening the ‘pain’ is under control, but every once in a while we still have a bit of the spasm. I’m hoping that this will go away soon.

I managed to get away with only losing 3 lbs this weekend (since the chemo) which is a big thing given how very little I managed to eat. The nurse that does the triage for the weekly sessions commented that the 3 lbs does not put me in the danger zone for a needed J or G tube insertion. And Dr. Jha mentioned nothing about it, so I assume that as long as I keep the weight relatively balanced, I’m in okay shape going forward.

We had a quick meeting with the Cross’s physio person, a nice woman named Rita. She and I talked about the energy issues and suggested that, as we’ve already acknowledged, expending energy grows energy. But it is so tough! All I want to do is sit, lie down, take the weight off…

Damn, but I’m getting to be a pathetic old man. My father has more get up and go than I do right now!

ONLY 11 (eleven) MORE RADIATION SESSIONS TO GO!
ONLY 1 (one) MORE CHEMO TREATMENTS TO GO!