Oncology Update
I've had about two weeks of radiation and oral chemotherapy, and it seems to be going okay. I'm pretty sure the one big tumor that I can actually feel is getting smaller. At any rate, it's bleeding less and the pain is getting better. The pain's also ... different in a way that I can't really put into words.
The treatments themselves are a piece of cake. Every weekday I go to the office and just lie down on a table and stay still for five minutes or so while this big Star Trek machine rotates around and makes occasional buzzing noises. I don't see or feel anything, and I literally spend more time driving to and from the office than I do in the machine. And then the oral chemotherapy is just a couple of (really, really expensive) pills that I take twice a day after meals.
I've got some anti-nausea medicine which I take every day before the radiation therapy as a preventative measure, and then "as needed" if I experience any nausea -- which has happened all of once in the past two weeks. I'm tired a lot of the time, and my appetite's a little off. Other than that, side effects haven't been much of an issue.
I see the radiation oncologist once a week, and so far that's been pretty routine. I'll see my medical oncologist in just over a week.
The treatments themselves are a piece of cake. Every weekday I go to the office and just lie down on a table and stay still for five minutes or so while this big Star Trek machine rotates around and makes occasional buzzing noises. I don't see or feel anything, and I literally spend more time driving to and from the office than I do in the machine. And then the oral chemotherapy is just a couple of (really, really expensive) pills that I take twice a day after meals.
I've got some anti-nausea medicine which I take every day before the radiation therapy as a preventative measure, and then "as needed" if I experience any nausea -- which has happened all of once in the past two weeks. I'm tired a lot of the time, and my appetite's a little off. Other than that, side effects haven't been much of an issue.
I see the radiation oncologist once a week, and so far that's been pretty routine. I'll see my medical oncologist in just over a week.