May 17, 2010 – Radiation 24 [11 to go] – Speed appointing

Another Monday, another six-appointment day is in the books.  It’s late.  I’m tired.  The rest of this week appears to be light (so far, just radiation Tuesday-Friday).  I’ll summarize today in this posting and then write in more detail about the appointments tomorrow. 

Let’s see, traffic was real light both to and from Boston.  My first stop was at the blood lab for a port activation and blood draw.

 

Next, was a trip to radiation oncology on L2 for treatment 24, which leaves 11 to go!  Thursday, I go below 10 treatments remaining!  Music for today was from Dar Williams’ Out There Live; tracks played were “As Cool As I Am”, “Iowa”, and “When I Was A Boy”.  After the treatment, we saw Dr. T. (radiation oncologist) and his team.

We went up the 11th floor for my appointment with the nutritionist and then with the medical oncologists, the two Dr. H.’s.   Finally, we walked down a flight to the infusion room for chemotherapy.

In the next chair, was a man getting chemo boosters for brachial cancer.  The goal is to keep him in remission until a better approach to dealing with his tumor is developed.  Ann was running errands while his wife and daughter were getting lunch, so he and I had time to talk about cancer, how we approach treatment, and our new perspective towards life.  When I was ready to leave, we wished one another best of lucks and God Bless You’s.  It was an uncommon moment in life.  It was a common moment at Dana Farber.

Ann & I got home around 4:00 pm.  Adam & Blaze dog beat us home.  We all decided we needed a nap.  I napped a long time, even after everyone else was up.  Ann told me I was making “strange noises” – she couldn’t describe them and may set up a tape recorder!  One common thread for the day was the need to hold my weight where it is and put some more on.  I’m down ~7 pounds since beginning radiation.  Much of my pre- and post-nap activity involved cans of formula.  Gonna do my best.

Thanks everyone for you support and comfort.  I am so fortunate and so grateful to have you in my life.

Love…

Richard