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.