Part 9 - SOME EFFECTS OF RADIATION

I have now completed 20 radiation treatments. During this process, I have noticed that my shoulders neck and behind my ears are always red and itchy. It’s just like having sunburn and the treatment is basically the same. About twice a day I put a saline soaked cloth on the effected area and allow the cloth to draw out the heat. After that is done I cover the area with a moisturizing cream which is nice and cooling and leaves the area nice and moist. I use a product called LUBRIDERM but there are many others on the market also. Another cream I have is ALOE VERA GEL which feels great when applied but for some reason, it tends to dry out my skin. A positive side is that I not longer have to shave as the radiation has burned the hair follicles. The negative side is that the hair on the back of my head has started falling out. If it keeps going I will look like a US marine soon.
This weekend I talked way too much and ended up with a very sore mouth. As my mouth is a little swollen, it causes my tongue to rub on my teeth and get painfully sore. I shared at our monthly Christian Fellowship Breakfast Meeting on Saturday morning and also on the weekends I get many telephone calls from family and friends which I love and look forward to. Unfortunately I will have to limit my phone time to BRIEF for a while but I know you’ll understand. (You can do the talking OK)
Perhaps the Lord is saying, John be still (and quite) and know that I am God.
Thanks for all your prayers, cards and calls.

Part 8 – 2ND CHEMOTHERAPY TREATMENT

(Almost finished my 2nd treatment)

This treatment in my case, takes about 18 hours from start to finish and the side effects so far have not been too bad. This time I felt a little sick towards the end of the night but as soon as the nurse applied another small bag of anti-nausea medicine I started to feel OK. At around 9 am the Radiation Department telephoned and said they were waiting for me and so I grabbed the elevator and headed down from the 18th floor to the basement. I had already put my prescriptions into the pharmacy the day before so after my radiation, I headed there to find out the cost. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my application for the Ontario Government Trillium Health Care Plan had been approved, and that most of my drugs were now covered as I had already met my deductible portion of the plan.

As both treatments make you quite tired, I decided to call a taxi as the next bus wasn’t for over an hour and I really needed to lay down and relax. My bed felt so good when I hit it. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Part 7b: CHILDREN WITH CANCER

One of the hardest and most upsetting times for me is to see the number of kids coming in for treatment. I couldn't help but think back to the days of taking my daughter Candice out in her stroller for a jaunt down to the park. Some of these children are in strollers but their trip is not to the park but into the radiation chamber for treatments. I have talked to some of the parents who are sitting waiting while their child is alone in the chamber and although they appear brave on the outside, it must be pure torture for them knowing that there is nothing they can do at that moment in time. One couple told me that their 7 year old son had already undergone two surgeries for a rare brain tumor, was now completing his sixth week out of seven of radiation and then had to undergo five weeks of chemotherapy. I often find myself talking to God about these kids when I'm having my treatments. The good thing about children is that are fairly resilient and it is cute to see them, many with no hair, skipping down the hallways and teasing their siblings. My prayer is that a cure for this disease will be found shortly.

Part 7a: THIRD WEEK COMPLETED - (May 19 - 22)

This was a short week as last Monday was a holiday. However, we still had to have the same number of treatments so Wednesday was catch up day; radiation in the morning and again in the afternoon. Also on Wednesdays I see Dr. Hope and have my weight checked and to my delight I had not lost any weight. I also learned that I only needed to take the liquid Codeine if I needed it. Great news, I haven't taken any all week. The greatest problem for me is eating and drinking as everything tastes absolutely awful. Obviously I have to eat, so I work on a constant trial and error basis and unfortunately the error side is winning. Simple food like mashed potatoes tastes a bit like wet cardboard. After it's eaten I clean my teeth, wash my mouth out with baking soda and have a drink of soda water then I'm OK for a while. The other side effect of the radiation is a dry mouth and so I constantly sip on liquids.

I leave for the Princess Margaret Hospital at 8.30 am tomorrow and have a lot to do tomorrow as after my radiation, I have to go to the blood lad to have blood taken, meet with Doctor Siu, then go to the 18th floor to have my second round chemotherapy treatment. This will again mean staying over night so I am looking forward to find out who my room mate will be this time.

This past week I had the pleasure of meeting and also saying goodbye to some great people. I guess I am becoming one of the old timers now as each week there are more new people arriving and I will be into my fourth week at the PMH Lodge. Time flys when you're having fun.

Part 6: 2ND WEEKEND HOME - May 15 - 19th

I arrived home for the 'Victoria Day' long leekend at around noon on Friday. To my surprise, a friend had been by and totally cleaned my cottage and left a lovely bunch of cut flowers on the dining room table. Thank you very much. I unpacked my bag and headed out to Walmart to buy some groceries and a few other things. I decided to pick up a blender which was the best move I made all weekend. As I was unable to swallow most food, the blender made it possible to make some great smoothies. I have been using the product Boost as a food supplement and found that one vanilla boost, some fruit and ice cream makes a nutritious meal. I also bought some baby formula which makes a great almost liquid porridge for breakfast. The smell of steak on the BBQ drives me wild but it will be a while until I can enjoy more than the smell. I thought it might be fun to invite some friends over for dinner and blend up steak and potatoes and serve it in a large beer mug. It was just a thought. Well I'm back to the lodge tomorrow so I'll update this site next weekend. May God bless each person who reads this weblog.

Part 5 - SECOND WEEK COMPLETED - (May 11 - 15th)

Dr. Andrew Hope - Princess Margaret Hospital


SECOND WEEK AT THE LODGE
The lodge is an amazing place and I will do one section with photos later on. The people who stay there and the staff who run it are without a doubt truly great people and this makes my stay so much easier. Also the Princess Margaret Hospital staff are so well organized and friendly and always willing to chat or offer advice to help make this journey easier. Dr. Andrew Hope is a Radiation Oncologist and an Assistant Professor and quite an amazing guy. I sense that like his name, he gives people Hope for the future. Thanks Doctor.

RECOGNIZING LIMITATIONS
Both treatments have the tendency to make you tired and I have found that I can doze off while working on my computer or waiting for an appointment.

SALIVA CHANGE
Mouth and throat radiation gradually changes the Saliva glands and they stop producing the normal flow of saliva. As a result the mouth becomes dry and always seems as if it is coated with mucus like paste. Rinsing the mouth with a baking soda and water mix and drinking lots of water seems to help. Night is the worst as I find I am constantly getting up to rinse my mouth.

TASTE CHANGE
The other gradual effect of radiation is taste. By the end of my second week of treatments I found that most food has a metallic taste which is quite unpleasant and really spoils the whole process of eating.

MAJOR PAIN (Sore throat and mouth BIG TIME)
The final thing so far is an ever increasing sore throat which makes it very hard to swallow. The doctor has prescribed liquid CODEINE every 4 hours and a mouthwash called MUCOSITIS which numbs the mouth and throat enough to allow you to eat, if you can swallow some of it without gagging. The other problem I have encountered this weekend is small canker sores on the side of the mouth and tongue. I tried ORAJEL on one and after I climbed down off the ceiling it did seem to help for a while.

SIDE EFFECTS
Most drugs have some side effects and for CODEINE the side effect is constipation. To counteract this, the doctors recommend a daily dose of SENNA LAXATIVE and DOCSATE SODIUM a stool softener. Up until this journey, I thought a stool softener was a small pillow.

Part 4 - FIRST WEEKEND HOME (May 8-11)

Coming home was great and the first night both my children came over with their respective partners. The next morning I was up early and had the laundry done by 8.3 but I soon found that I was not quite as well as I thought. A visit to Goodies Café to chat with my friends Brian and Gayle who are cat sitting for me, ended quickly after I realized that I had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I stayed for a juice and went straight home. I had planned some shopping but at that point, I didn’t think it wise to push my luck, so I decided to lay down for a while. To be honest, this first weekend home was like that on and off the whole time. The was my first reaction to the chemotherapy given to me 3 days before and although it was not pleasant, it was livable and I managed to get through the weekend without being sick. The worst time was at night when my mouth would seem to dry out which is one of the side effect of the radiation. As a result I was up and down to rinse my mouth with a baking soda rinse most of the night. Drinking lots of water also helps but then I was not only rinsing my mouth every hours but also using the toilet. Needless to say by Monday morning I was looking forward to being back at PMH lodge for a rest. Next weekend is the May long weekend so I have three days at home and now that the effects of the chemo has worn off I am hoping that it will be easier to handle.

Part 3: THE START OF JOURNEY - WEEK ONE

After a very a pleasant drive to Toronto with two other patients and our Canadian Cancer Society driver Alexis, we started to find that the traffic was slowing down around the 401 area. After a few detours across the 400 highway southbound lanes, we headed down Black Creek Drive and made our way zig zag style down to Princess Margaret Hospital.
FIRST WEEK OF 35 RADIATION TREATMENTS
I was early enough to get a coffee before heading down to level 2B unit 5 for my first radiation treatment. My mask was waiting for me and after a few adjustments, my head was locked down. The technicians promised that mouth and eye holes would be cut out for Tuesdays treatment. (Pictures of my mask are posted below)
The whole process only took about 20 minutes during which time the machine moved around and made strange sounds. Sounds that I will become totally familiar with by the end of my 7 weeks of treatment. Afterward I waited in the lobby and at 12 noon got on the Princess Margaret Hospital Lodge bus in time to have a nice lunch before my orientation session with the nurse. The lodge is quite amazing with lounges on every floor, large TV’s with comfy couches and chairs, excise and pool room, plus resource room with two high speed computers fro us to use and beautiful grand piano. After watching 2 hours of Dancing with the Stars and making a bunch of new friends it was time for my first night sleepover.
FIRST OF 3 TREATMENTS OF CHEMOTHERAPY
Today was my second radiation and my first round of chemotherapy with Cisplatin. For this procedure I stayed over night on the 18th floor of Princess Margaret Hospital.
After being hooked up to my iv monitor machine, a fluid drip was started which meant running to the bathroom almost every 10 minutes. Chemo started in the afternoon along a bunch of liquid drugs thought the iv to minimize the nausea and vomiting. I was fortunate and had no adverse reaction and by 7 am the following morning I was making tea for my room mate and myself. At last I was finally unhooked from my travelling iv monitor and so after breakfast I said goodbye to my roomy and now friend Joseph, and proceeded down to the basement for my 3rd radiation treatment.


John Lawrence and Joseph Whitfield









The radiation staff kindly took the following photos of the mask that I wear during the radiation process. I have 9 beams daily and the mask is to hold my head in a fixed position. In the actual process I would be laying down and then lined up with by laser beams so that the radiation beams are completely on target. Each patient has a mask formed to the contours of their face and at the end of the process, gets to keep it. (Only 6 weeks left)


I'm not sure which picture is the scariest
















(Click on the photo for a larger image and you will see some of the laser beams used for alignment)