Radiation’s Different

Unfortunately, the effects of this treatment are cumulative. It will get worse before it gets better. Since the discovery of my cancer every pain or discomfort I’ve experienced has been because of treatment not the cancer itself. It seems to have worked. Fair trade.

My journey through the medical-industrial complex has been trying at times. That’s especially true now.

First things first. My commitment to full recovery remains steadfast. Treatment has been aggressive — my choice. And it continues.

Radiation has just whipped me! If I’m not feeling nauseous, I’m fatigued… or both. My legs feel like they have weights on them. It’s like I’m living in an alter cocker simulator!

Along with radiation there are six Xeloda (Capecitabine) tablets daily. There are also pills to try and mitigate the side effects. It’s a vicious cycle. Think of my stomach as an Erlenmeyer flask full of chemicals.

Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, tiredness, weakness, headache, dizziness, trouble sleeping, or changes in taste may occur.

I’ve got around ⅔ of those working on any given day. I’m still eating, but my taste for food is gone. Nothing is appealing. I eat less.

All this stuff comes with the territory. No one said it would be easy. My solace comes in knowing this will only last another few weeks.

Unfortunately, the effects of this treatment are cumulative. It will get worse before it gets better.

Since the discovery of my cancer every pain or discomfort I’ve experienced has been because of treatment not the cancer itself. It seems to have worked. Fair trade.

17 thoughts on “Radiation’s Different”

  1. Stay strong Geoff. You will win this. Our family loved the interview with Ann. For a minute we thought you were home with us on conn. And of course you are on our prayers. ALWAYS.

  2. Geoff, Thank-you for sharing your journey with all of us. You are a blessing to others who are experiencing some of the same challenges. I am so blessed by your courage and your willingness to share your pain. My mother had breast cancer and I never really knew what she was going through. She never said anything about the radiation until one day I saw the damage done to her skin. She is a strong woman and never shares much about her personal journey, but, she has survived the battle and has been well for over 8 years. We are believing the same for you. God bless you with His peace and joy. Love to you from our family.

  3. You’ve got the right attitude and that will serve you well. There will be “this sucks” days but they pass. I am a seven year colon cancer survivor myself. It surely was an annoying “blip in the road” but here I am. Time passes.

    I will continue to keep you in my prayers because it never hurts : )

  4. Unfortunately the side affects of radiation are cumulative. I would schedule appts. at the end of the day so I could go home and rest before dinner.

    That way I was able to function during the day. Not sure what time your forecasts are, but work around that.

    I had 80 treatments between cancer 1 and cancer 2. Good luck!!

  5. When I was going through treatment I started to mix protein drinks with ice cream it was one of the few things I liked. I would also blend in different fruits. You don’t want to lose too much weight so eat what you like and can tolerate. I’m thinking of you and always sending healing thoughts…

  6. I guess one would have to consider it a “fair trade.” I’m so amazed by your attitude -but from everyone I know who is battling this disease, attitude is everything! Stay strong and thank you again for sharing your story with all of us. And also, thank you to all those survivors above who’ve commented, for sharing your thoughts. Prayers and blessings to all of you.
    P.S. We really enjoyed the interviews with Ann N.

  7. You are almost there. Unfortunately, you knew this was coming and it has. You will make it through, Geoff. You are strong and determined!

  8. Hang in there Geoff, you are doing an awesome job. God bless you,
    I wish you the best…..just hang in there……

  9. In 2000 my husband had prostate cancer, had the prostate out and went thru radiation. His colon was burned and he now has radiation proctitis. He still has not recovered from that. The PSA goes up a little every year. His outlook is good but I continue to hear of his ongoing issues since 2000. So radiation does leave you with something you don’t bargin for.
    Truly I wish you the best of outcomes. You are upbeat when I watch you on the internet and you never seem to waiver from that. You are in our prayers here in FL. You can kick cancers ass…no doubt about it…Hang tough Geoff.

  10. Thank-you for sharing your story. You have a great attitude that I’m sure helps you cope with all of this. Hoping that the prayers of all of us following you make things a bit easier for your recovery.

  11. The interviews on Ch 8 with Ann Nyberg were great—but there were some things that I saw in the “previews” that never appeared in the featured news. Since there was a bit on each section from 5 PM on, I DVR’d the whole series. I forgot that they had 10PM news, so perhaps that is where I missed some of the stuff. I will say—you appear better in your blog pictures than you did for the interviews, but then it had been recorded the previous week.
    You haven’t sent out pics or spoken of your dog in quite a while–is it OK?
    Hang in there–it will take a while, but your taste will come back. It was good to see Helaine in the interviews. You are both in the right place—climate wise. Here it is March 4, 5th, and we are having wind gusts up to 30 mph and temps that feel like below zero. Snow is gone, and spring birds are arriving, We start DST next weekend!

  12. this may sound silly, but when I was younger, and had unremitting nausea for days efvery month, I found sipping ginger ale and nibbling saltines helpful.

    If you haven’t tried it, it certainly can’t hurt…..

Leave a Reply to Robert Price Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *