6 Chemos and 25 radiations later

                Hi every one, It's been 1 whole week of procrastinating. Period. Many logged in to check my progress or any news but were disappointed. I apologise for that, esp Marisha. "If paps has not updated, then something is wrong" I am pretty OK, that's the least I can say. Its been a grueling 4 weeks and finally I have finished my last chemo yesterday. Hurray !! And I have another 10 more radiation sessions to go. Yes 10 more sessions. All of you can do a count down for me.The last day will be 20th March 2012. So do send me a congratulatory message on that day!!

Meal replacement diet

               So how has it been the last week? Tired and drained. Sleeping a lot with weird dreams. Taste is non existent and my throat is dry and sore. Eating solids is out of the question. My diet is liquid,- clear soup, kuey tiow soup and more soup. To supplement the diet and to prevent further weight loss, I take Ensure three times a day. The weight has stabilised at 82.5kg for 3 days. So that is a pretty good sign.

Skin turns black

Skin loose under chin

             
The effects of radiation is terrible. Here is what I mean. That me after loosing 10kgs !! OMG!! If I could describe the feeling I get around my neck is like getting sunburned and its tender to touch and wash.The left side is darker because the cancer was on the left tonsils and so they radiate more on that side. The doc gave some cream "Hydrocortisone" to put around my neck. Keeping hydrated is also very important, so I sip a lot of water. I use to drink coconut water as suggested by some friends, but I found that it started to agitate my latent asthma. I used to be asthmatic years ago may be around the age of 12 or 13, it runs in the family. I got cured of it one day when my father took me and my late brother to the abattoir in Penang and got both of us to drink 1 mug of fresh cows blood. Since that day I have never got another asthma attack. Believe it or not but its true. I am not suggesting that you go down the same road as me but to share an experience, that's all. If every thing else fails, then give it a try. The next few days is going to get tougher as the radiation burns more around my neck. Eating, drinking and swallowing will definitely become harder and not forgetting the pain. I was offered morphine syrup at the hospital but I declined it but I will KIV.

Before treatment

5 chemo and 25 rad later

What do I miss the most ? Of course the flying, the CRM classes and my golf. These are the things that I cannot do physically at the moment. As soon as this is over and I get back my strength, I will go back to my golf slowly, start the conducting classes and get my medical approved for flying again. This will be another dream for me to achieve. 

So that it for now, many thanks for logging in to see how I am faring.

Will write again soon. Bye for now.