It’s been 10 days since my last treatment and so far, I am feeling better than I have in a long time. That can change at any point but I’m enjoying the moment!
I’m just finishing up my strawberry, banana breakfast smoothie and it hasn’t been too painful. Typically I experience the most pain when I first wake up. My neck is usually tight and feels like it’s on fire and my mouth aches and burns. Once I shower and apply the cream to my neck it feels better. For my mouth I rinse with Magic Mix which contains Benadryl and Lidocaine. After giving that some time to work in I crush 3-4 Ibuprofens and take them mixed together with some apple sauce. It’s all a bit of a process but it works.
After I give the medicine some time to take effect I try eating. If it’s not too painful I continue. Usually it gets a little better as I go and I can tell where I’m at after 5-8 sips. I sip some smoothie and wash it down with water. Taking my time I can usually get through a meal like this. If it’s just too painful I’ll crush up a Hydrocodone and take that with some apple sauce. I wait 1/2 an hour or so and then I’ll try again. So far that has been getting me through enabling me to maintain my calorie and protein intake without being totally doped out on pain meds.
The burns on my neck are looking MUCH better and help reassure me that my body is healing. It’s a nice visible indicator I use for encouragement. At this time last week it looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to the left side of my neck and that’s how it felt! Now it’s pretty red and irritated but covers less area and doesn’t have the same intensity.
I’m still very tired and slept a least half of the day on Saturday and again on Sunday. It felt good to get some rest, especially since it was fairly cool here. The Fentanyl patches have helped keep the pain down but give me very strange dreams which seem very real. I tend to wake up every 1 1/2-2 hours throughout the night and am often not sure where I am. It takes a little while to come out of it and fall back to sleep. Hopefully I’ll be able to ween myself off of all the pain meds soon and get some more rest! My body needs it to recover from all of the radiation I’ve been exposed to over the last few months.
Off to the dentist so she can have a look at my tongue and mouth to help me keep an alert watch. This will be a very important part of my follow up, especially over the next 5 years.
It’s been a heck of a battle! I continue the fight! Attas 2, cancer 0!