• Chemo 3 of 7
• Radiation 6 of 33
• Weight 171.8 lbs

Tuesdays are the worst because I get chemo and radiation back to back. The first Tuesday I had chemo and had a reaction later that night that landed me in the ER. The next Tuesday I had Chemo then Radiation. I was swollen from the chemo and the radiation mask was so tight it choked me and they had to unhook me, pull me out of the machine and start over.

This week I did the Radiation first to avoid this and it seemed to work pretty well. I still hate Tuesdays!

I did get some good news today. I am only getting 7 total chemo sessions which means I only have 4 weeks left. There are still 27 radiation treatments which are starting to take their toll. I’ve completely lost my taste buds. My salivary glands are barely producing so I have constant dry mouth and carry water at all times. I wake up at night with a dry sore throat and have to drink water.

I know it’s going to get much worse but I’m anxious to get through the treatments so I can start the recovery. I’m holding my weight so that’s good but it’s getting harder to eat with no taste buds, no appetite and a sore throat. I’ll probably have to start moving toward a liquid diet in the next few days. I’m told the liquid diet could last for months before getting back on solids. Hey, whatever it takes to get through it.

I’m waiting to see if todays round of chemo is going to add to the rash or if it has leveled off. It’s bad but I think I can tolerate it for the next several weeks if it doesn’t get much worse. According to the Doc, I’m estimating I’ll be at my absolute worst around the first or second week of September. I’m looking forward to getting to the bottom so I can start the slow climb back up.

It’s a weird concept to continue to go to treatments that are designed to do damage and make you feel worse. It’s kind of hard to look forward to them.