It's "almost" over ver 2.0

Well as I sit here Wednesday night, thinking of Diane's recovery, not much has changed with her health or situation, except a slight emotional depression since she is, well, still feeling crummy.
I think she wants to feel better quicker than it is taking, she is very tired of drinking the vanilla & chocolate drinks, but everything tastes so bitter, it's even hard to drink those.
She still takes naps during the day, a goes out just a bit here and there before she gets tired again. She told me to tell everyone she is sorry if she had not returned your E-mail, she likes reading them, but to try and sit here and type away is just too much right now.
A little more coughing, perhaps because the tissue in her mouth is slowly recovering, and sometimes she has these coughing attacks in the middle of the night so she ends up sleeping sitting up in the big chair in the family room.
On a good note, (and there are good times too!) the whole family went to the wedding of Larry and Julie Russells' son, Brent, who married Ashley, and we updated our family photo! (Thanks Robert Picton)! A new photo will be up loaded soon. Diane stayed for the wedding and social hour, but started to feel crummy again and went home. I photographed the whole thing, so was there till the end. A great wedding!!!
So, hopefully "a day at a time recovery" will be apparent soon. We just aren't seeing it yet. (But I'm sure it's there)

It's "almost" over

Diane with Maria, and holding a diploma and her mask she had to wear.

She got to bring it home, ask to see it! (Halloween, anyone??)


Today was Diane's last day of her 5 week radiation treatments. Whew.... For me, it was a relief, but more importantly, it was a sense of gratitude that I felt. A gratitude that our fellow human beings have the knowledge that can pinpoint the cancer, surgically remove it and radiate the surrounding area, so that the cancer is completely gone. Just how cool is that?


Our friend Glen Thomas also got wonderful news that he is cancer free, he also went through an intense treatment this past year, so it was great news to read today. His blog is listed on the right of this column. Way to go Glen!


Diane and I also have a deep sense of appreciation and love for everyone who has offered a meal, wrote a quick note, gave a call and just sent their support. It is so comforting and emotionally rewarding to know that you care. Thank you. We are all almost through this. A good friend just told me tonight "I can't wait to have my Diane back" and I think that slowly, but surely, every single day, we are going to see a little bit more of "our Diane" coming back, and a little less of the "ill Diane".


The next week will probably be the same routine, a lot of daytime naps and still in some pain and unable to eat, drymouth and some coughing, but little by little, hour by hour, day by day, she is slowly recovering. And that's the best thing to be greatful for!

3 More Days of Treatment

It's Tuesday evening now, Diane is on her LAST week of radiation treatments. Today I got a little down seeing her go through all this, but when we got back from her treatment, I tucked her in bed for her midday nap, gave her a quick kiss before I left for work, and she looked up at me in her most wonderful voice and said "It'll be over soon Honey, and I'll be feeling my normal self again". For her to say that gave me the biggest smile on my face and off to work I went a happy man. She is sleeping 3-4 hours everyday after her treatments, her body is trying to recover.
Her mouth is not producing much saliva, so it feels dry all the time. Her taste buds are shot, so food doesn't appeal to her much, but she is sick of just drinking the ensure type protien shakes.
Dr Carmel told us today that after her treatments are over, then it would be about a week before she begins to feel better, after that, it will be a fairly quick recovery! I see a light at the end of a tunnel! Yeay. He also said it would be about a month before her taste comes back, and she might not have any on the back of her tongue.
So think of us this Friday, as we end this part of the process towards a healthy Diane!

One more week left!!

Well, today is Friday, and Diane has one more week left with her radiaiton treatments. Just last night she commented that she is not going downhill, that all the soreness and side effects are not getting worse, they are just there. So... overall, not too bad. She is sleeping everyday after her treatments, her throat is sore, the ends of her lips are getting very dry and cracked, hardly any taste, and hard to swallow. Besides that, she is doing OK! We have still been getting wonderful meals dropped off at the house, that has been a wonderful Godsend so she doesn't have to worry about everyday. I am getting better going to Safeway and figuring out where everything is, a couple days ago I went and upon checkout, realized I forgot my wallet! OOPS had to rush back home to get it.
SO 5 more days and this chapter will be over. In the meantime, I wish everyone a wonderful weekend, please go outside and enjoy this most beautiful weather we've been having!

Radiation:End of week three

Well it's 60% over, so hopefully the next two weeks will go by fairly quickly. How is Diane doing? Well, it varies day to day. She has got some good pain medication to help her very sore throat, and some good anti nauseousness medicine to help her there. So on a typical morning, she wakes up with a very,very dry mouth, takes her meds and within an hour she can try to eat or drink something. (She had resorted back to her liquid diet, since almost everything else just tastes awful). Her sense of taste is really wacked. The treatments have been in the morning, so then she comes home and is tired, so maybe a nap in the afternoon, and just an overall "bleahhh" feeling is typical. With that said, she went to see a movie with some friends, and is talking to friends on the phone and via E-mail, so life is just movin' on, getting through this chapter of our lives.
All in all, Diane feels OK, it could be a lot worse, so we are counting our blessings, even as our portfolio goes down the drain quicker than a roto-rooter repairman could do it.
To be continued....

Radiation:end of week two

It has now been two weeks, 10 days of treatments, and it's beginning to affect Diane. Her throat is getting very sore, she is losing her sense of taste, (not in husbands, thank God) and more of a dry mouth than before. During one of her treatments this week, she had a tough time being still, her jaw was really twitching, and she ended up crying after the whole experience. The nurses were very helpful and concerned, so now either I or a neighbor goes with her.
I bought her a small pump sprayer, the kind you use for putting chemicals in and spraying around your garden, but we put in a mixture of baking soda and salt, and she sprays it inside of her mouth 4-5 times a day to keep the PH balance so her tissue heals quicker. Maybe she'll let me take a photo of it, it's a site to see her bent over the kitchen sink with a spray wand in her mouth. When this is all done I am going to put some Margaritas in there.
The good news is that she is 40% done, with three more weeks to go. The bad news is that when she is done, that's when the most damage is done to the cells and tissue, and then the recovery begins.
We both know that though this is a tough, painful process, but if it rids the body of cancer, then what's there to complain about? Till next time....