Thursday, January 25, 2007

Woke up with a brutal head ache this morning...I think I was a bit dehydrated. The Erbitux really dry's you out. Now I know that I need to keep the fluids going in all the time to keep up with it.

We went to the Radiology Oncologist, Dr. Leonard today at RMCC - Littleton. Once again some really great folks to work with. The doc is very soft spoken and very well respected amoung his peers. And he was patient with me and hair trigger gag reflex! His nurse is great and I think we'll have a good time. The RT gameplan is next Wednesday the 31st we return to RMCC - Littleton to be fitted with my mask (a plastic mesh that will begin around the upper lip and go over the head to a frame that will fit on the table to help hold my head still). I'll also get fitted for a mouth piece or bite block. There is some serious high tech involved in all of this - the mask will get three holes cut in it around the upper forhead (where the hair line used to be!) and this is where they will tattoo 3 spots onto my head to line up the head with the lasers. The mouth piece has some metal balls that work like a localized GPS unit while I am in the room. They use a combination of the lasers and the GPS type stuff to make sure that where I am being radiowaved is exactly the spot that they want to be - everything aligned in 3 D.

I'll need to go back in possibly Thursday or Friday for a dry run where they will only do a CT scan to provide the 3D imaging and alignment, then the doc will determine angles and dosage for my visits, then we setup the schedule. It will be every weekday M-F for 7 weeks - each visit will be about 15 to 20 minutes in the room. Not bad!

They gave me some rinses for the mouth and most importantly some atevan (sp?) (a drug that mellows you out - anti anxiety drug) to take before next week so I don't puke on the guy trying to get my teeth impression!!! Luck him!!!

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I have surgery scheduled next Tuesday the 30th to get my feeding tube put in. I will probably not need it for a few weeks but am taking a proactive approach in getting it put in now while my strength is still good and I can recover more quickly.

That's about it for today...I am tired! Tomorrow is a day without an appointment! We won't know what to do!