Excerpts

I just re-read a few posts from the blog I found awhile back from a guy that went through the same treatments I'm going through. Here are a few excerpts:
"Note to those reading, I'm in no way depressed, moody or otherwise down. Just the opposite. I went into this thinking doom and gloom and I'm happy to report I'm still feeling fine..... No sores on my skin or in my mouth yet.... All in all, these radiation treatments are not as bad as I had anticipated.... So I'm getting off easy. The doctor told me my skin would not get any worse. I'm simply a little red, lost a little hair behind my ear, my beard stopped growing, and my taste is gone.... In terms of side effects, I would rate them as follows:
#1 Lost Taste. I've only lost 3 lbs since starting treatments, but eating is terribe. Blah!
#2 Stuffed ear. It's also draining fluid but seems to be getting better.
#3 Radiation burn. It doesn't bother me at all. Just looks like a bad sunburn or bruise."

This guy sucks! And he's right -- he got off EASY!! OK, I feel better now. :-P

I think I just got the last expected side effect -- thick saliva. Just as nasty as it sounds and we'll leave it at that. Now, if we can just maintain what we've got and not get any worse, we'll be just fine for the next 13 treatments. Yep, that's right, I'm OVER halfway done. To compare to the above side effects, I would somewhat agree on #1. My tongue is fried. Little taste left, but I have a few sores to accompany that. Makes talking & eating a challenge, but since those are two of my favorite things to do, I must overcome!

I keep reminding myself of the end goal -- to zap those tumor cells once & for all. No more parotidectomies for me! I was wondering what type of radiation the above-mentioned fella had. I don't guess I'll ever know the answer to that, but I can tell you about mine. I don't know at all what this means, but here's an excerpt from my doctor's note:
"...we have elected to treat her with intensity-modulated therapy so that we can get to the parapharyngeal space and cover the volume at risk. The plan is to treat her to 60 Gy in 30 fractions.
BASIC TREATMENT PLAN: The patient will be treated with a 7-field intensity modulated treatment plan that will compass the parotid bed and upper right neck. The dose will be 60 Gy in 30 fractions; 6 MV photon and multileaf collimated shielding will be used. Additional margins will receive 54 Gy.

SPECIAL TREATMENT PROCEDURES: The patient is being treated with intensity-modulated therapy to the head and neck requiring additional treatment planning time to delineate multiple target volumes and avoidance of structures."

There you have it, folks!