Well, its been almost two weeks since the last chemo. It was a bit different this time. Things are tasting so bad for Don that he really hates to eat anything so he is surviving mostly on the liquid diet that we are supplied for exactly this reason. Not an easy task for the fun foody guy who loves a good meal and a good glass of wine. When this all started he asked if he could still drink wine during it all and they said he could eat or drink anything he wanted but he wasn't going to want any of it. Boy was that the truth. So no great food, none of the cooking and entertaining we usually do, no dinners out. We are both losing weight. Only Don's not supposed to.
Ironically, Don is looking pretty good. A few pounds lighter makes and improvement and if he wasn't so exhausted all the time and feeling so lousy it would be great. No pain at all though - the drs keep asking him what he takes for pain and does he want something for it but he keeps telling them there isn't any pain. So that's good. Pain on top of feeling this lousey would be pretty bad.
Yesterday we checked out the new Trader Joe's nearby and by the time we left he was so disgusted with all the great things he couldn't eat that he said not to let him go to the grocery store again. I was pretty surprised when he wanted to go this time, actually. It really gets him down to not be able to enjoy the things we have fun at - our dinner parties and time with our friends. So much of what we do with everyone revolves around our friends and great food. But I keep reminding him that it will all be back soon.
He has been going throught the radiation pretty well. He is mourning the slow loss of his mustache and beard and some of the hair on the back of his neck but other than that it's going well. The drs are happy with the results they are seeing. They can just look down his throat and tell it's doing well. The radiation dr asked me if I wanted to look, but I passed on that one.
The whole radiation process is pretty amazing with all the machines and equipment. His guy friends keep volunteering to drive him to his radiation treatments because the nurses let him go in and watch Don get bolted down and then they let them go in the room with all the controls and watch the whole process. It is pretty amazing if you aren't the one on the table with the mask on.
I do need to say that our friends have been just great. They are always checking on him and complain when I don't do this blog often enough. We have made a couple of dates to get together with people but Don is usually so exhausted he cant hang around for long. A short outing just exhausts him.
The drs keep telling him to sleep and that it is the best thing for healing and he has taken them at their word. He slept practically all day yesterday and we have a movie planned for the afternoon today and I'm half expecting him to bail out and just want to stay home and sleep. That's okay too. I'm letting him completely decide what he wants to do because I think he needs to listen to his body and let it tell him what's best. His energy needs to be used to mend after the radiation and poisoning that the chemo does.
Speaking of chemo, his next one is a week from this tuesday (on his birthday, the 26th) and then he is done with it! Radiation ends a week later during the first week of March. We are almost there! Unfortunately it's not easy for him to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now. He still has to go through the awful weeks after chemo when he feels so bad. It really takes him two weeks to recuperated from it. I think today is the first day since the last chemo that he was laughing at the Sunday comics. It is good to hear him laugh.
In a couple of weeks Stefan (Don's son) will be down from Seattle for the weekend to visit and that always cheers Don up. We have so much fun with him and his sweet little family. Stefan is just coming himself this time because we haven't told Sammy (THE grandchild) that his Grandpa is sick. We talk to them on Skype and that's always fun. No reason to upset Sammy since it will all be over soon. He is so crazy about his Grandpa.
So there we are. Getting closer to having it be over. This should be a better week. the one just before the next chemo is always better. as Nadine, a friend of ours who has been through it all said, the day you feel the best is the day before your next chemo. She sure knew what she was talking about there.
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