Cancer Thoughts 7

Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

That is the theme for me this week; it is the end of the second week Chemo is done for the week and I have one more radiation treatment to go on Friday and two days off. I am so looking forward to the weekend.

I have the radiation process down now, and it goes like this.
• Go into the room shirt off
• Go to sink get my mouth guards and tongue protector out rinse wipe and take my glasses off put them by the cover for my mouth guards.
• This is the most important part, wipe every part of my face and make sure I scratch and double scratch even it doesn’t itch. Repeat the process and wipe the corners of my mouth.
• Lie on table, get strapped in and then Tino says here we go, and they leave the room to go into the control room they watch me on TV to insure everything is OK.
• Now this is usually when my nose starts to itch that little dribble comes out of my mouth, even thought the other 23 hours and 59 minutes of the day my mouth is dry.
• I say my prayers and do my best to ignore the itches and dribble.
• The next part is the longest part it is the x-ray and the computer takes x-rays of me and then the computer moves the table to the exact same position each time when that process is complete the x-ray part of the machine moves out of the way.
• Now the radiation part moves in to place which is al the way to the extreme right Position 1a, I call it.
• A 25 second or so blast of radiation the machine repeats the process from the same position at a different angle.
• When it is done it move to position 2 with two shots of radiation at each position all the way to position 8 which is on the extreme left side.
• At that point I can see what I like to call a wonderful red led and when I can see it I know it is the last position.
• They come in remove the straps and I am done.

It is a lot like start wars lasers with laser and computers doing all the work and sighting everything up and very cool technology they have a full time physicist who does the programming. Now before this I never really thought of what a physicist looks like but this guy looks exactly what a physicist should look like, head in the computer thin and kind of like a nerd, but it is so reassuring that he does look like what I feel a physicist should look like. If he looked like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt that would bother me, I feel confident they have the right guy but who knows.

So far other than a dry mouth, a small continuous sore throat and upset stomach no other side effects, other than a short trip to the ER. I had a temperature of 102.7 on Wednesday night and we have been told any temperature over 101 I have to go the Emergency room, they gave me a Tylenol and an IV and hour later my temperature was normal again, and they let me go home, no big deal. The whole process took 3 ½ hours. I had a great attitude the whole time regardless of what Patty tells you. It is hard to accept normal medicine when I have the privilege of working with what I like to think of as world class doctors and there equally qualified staff. The truth is now I only see the doctors once a week we talk, they read the notes, we talk some more and they are gone I am working with the nurses and Radiation Techs, who all like and care about there job, they do not say it in words but in actions and attitude. By the way the daily shot in the stomach is hmmm well just that, I have actually thought myself a deep breathing technique that most often helps me relax and most important the mussels in my stomach relax, I am told somewhere under the fat there is some type of mussel I hope they find it soon so I can see it as well.

So what does this all have to do with Changes in Latitude and Changes in Attitude? That is going to be my theme for the next weeks to come. I still have moments of frustration, anger, and self-doubt and allow too many low points in. My attitude is important and I have to keep it at an even keel.

No more football predictions, Go Dodgers they are up 2 games to none over the Cubs who knows what will happen the Cubs are a good team but I rooting for the goat and its curse to continue over the cubs. Sorry Cub fans.

I still choose to Fight On and stay positive.

With Love Michael