Friday, February 2, 2007

Friday and another day without an appointment! That will all change next week as I am due to start my RT next Thursday. Time needs to be worked out yet as I received a voice mail with the info but the time will conflict with my Erbitux time on Wednesdays. I'll be speaking with them on Monday and we'll see what we need to do!

Not much to report today the zits are still there! It is strange as it feels like a mask, just in time for the Marti Gras! It would be nice if I could take it off for awhile.

Other than the rash I'm doing good and feeling fine...ready to get the RT started.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

A day without an appointment! It seems rare these days. Had a busy day at work to keep the mind busy. I did try the new cream that the doc gave me for my face; about an hour later I was itching like crazy! Finally I took a couple of ativan to take the edge off as I was about to go nuts!

I'm working on grazing throughout the day so that when the RT starts I can make sure I'm getting my nutrients as I am suppose to. This is a bit of a change when you be come a creature of habit eating the big meals at certain times. I have actually tried yogurt for the first time in many years and this stuff now is not so bad and has a good amount of calories in them.

The Erbitux is really working now; the nose is taking the brunt of it and has gigantic white heads all over it...kind of looks like how you would picture a trolls nose just with white heads instead of warts!

I tried some more of the cream late in the evening before I went to bed but had to get up an hour later because the inching was to much. A couple of benedryl, some cold wet wash cloths and warm wet chamomile tea wash cloths and I was good to go again.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

We started out the day by making another trip down to RMCC - Littleton to get setup and do the simulation for my RT. First thing was to make a bite block; pretty much like going to the dentist for an impression (flash back to wearing braces!!!). They squirted the green epoxy goo all over it and I had to bite down on it for around 5 minutes. This is a very snug fit and to take it off takes some wiggling of it! Once it was set we went into the the RT room as there is a square type frame attached to the front of the bite block with 4 small balls attached to it. This works like a room GPS unit and the computers know exactly where and how my head is positioned. I had to take it out and put it back in 10 times so everything could be tested and make sure it was all OK. Man was I a slobbering fool by time I was done! However, I did not gag even once! Amazing what a couple of ativan will do for you!

Next we went back into the CT room and I had to lay down on the bench with my head on a little rest block and they stretched a warm plastic thing over my head, neck and chest. This mask is a very snug fit over the shoulders and above to prevent movement, and it does a good job! There is a whole for my mouth so I can get my bite block in and three holes in the forehead where they gave me tattoos. The tattoos are each of a large dragon fighting with a lion and a tiger; only they are sooooo small they look like small dots or even a black head on my forehead! These are used to line up with three different red light laser beams in the treatment room so they can make sure I am in the right place. All of this is very precise and calculated.

Once fitted with everything they performed a CT scan (with contrast) to create the initial picture so the doc can figure out the angles and dosage for the treatment. This took about 25 to 30 minutes. My daily treatments will be much shorter in time than that CT Scan!

We left there and headed off to RMCC - Parker for my appointment with Dr. Reznick and my weekly Erbitux.

At the exam Dr. Reznick felt that Earl has gotten a bit softer that he was before! I think so too but wasn't sure if it was just wishful thinking on my part! The exam went well, nothing out of the ordinary. I did ask him to cut back on the benedryl since last week it knocked me out. He prescribed some cream for the face...it's really gotten bad! After that I was back in my lazy boy getting my week dosage. Even with half the benedryl I was still pretty tired and crashed early.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Happy Anniversary to Us! One year to the day since we quit smoking!

We headed to the hospital nice and early this morning to get my stomach tube put in. I'm not sure what I was thinking on how they would do this (maybe in denial!) but they did go down the throat into the stomach. I really don't remember much of this at all other than a shot of the numbing spray in my throat, my telling the doc that I have a sensitive gag reflex, another shot of the nasty tasting numbing spray, and then waking up in post op!!! Not sure what they gave me but it knocked me on my butt. If I think real hard I can remember some of the trip home and up to bed.

Needless to say I slept a good chunk of the day. I woke up at one point and the stomach hurt pretty good. Not the incision but the muscles. The tube goes in right below the diaphragm and that upper couple of cans of the six pack (that I used to have!) were cramped up something bad. Andrea gave me a couple of Vicodin and I was back out for a few more hours.

I woke up later and was able to get up and eat dinner. We sat down to watch some TV but didn't last very long before I was out again. Andrea's read through all the instructions and is ready to go, she also helped me to clean around it before bed. Still trying to figure out the best way to wear and tape up the tube, it will take some trial and error to come up with the most comfortable way.

The rash is still hanging in there! The white heads are focused mostly around the nose and is looking pretty gross! It is a really weird feeling - it's kind of like a mask on the face, that's what it feels like on the face all the time and when I was it. Well we most definitely know that the Erbitux is working!

Wednesday I get my mask and bite block made for RT and another dose of Erbitux.

Monday, January 29, 2007

Well the Erbitux is working very well!!!! I didn't have this many zits on my worst teenage day! It has really gone after my nose and cheeks for the worst of it, my nose is red and swollen like I'm an alcoholic! It is not just limited to that area though, I have them all over my face, head and neck! It doesn't hurt - unless I need to blow my nose! - but it does kind of itch in the hair! Only a couple of people commented at work, I'm sure the rumor mills are cooking up some good stuff though.



It seemed those first couple of days that nothing was going to happen and I was getting a little concerned that maybe it wasn't working. Well we definitely have no doubts now! That's a really good thing!


<====AHHHHHH! Scared myself as well! Nose and cheeks are a bit swollen!

<===Click on the pic to get a larger view.

I stopped by and got my blood taken today due to the surgery in the morning. We have to be at the hospital at 7:00 and surgery at 8:00. Shouldn't take to long to just put in a feeding tube so we're looking at getting out of there around 10:00.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Well when they talked about getting an acne like rash they weren't kidding! It came through real good on Sunday. It is primarily focused on my nose and cheeks but I do have it all over the face, some areas worse than others and in my hair! I think my entire head has them, it feels like it anyway. We can see that the top is covered through the thinning hair!

Andrea and I went to the store to see what we could find that should be somewhat easy on the throat. We picked up things like jello, pudding, yogurt, soup, fruit, etc... Jessica said "hey! who gets all this good stuff?" I think that I would rather eat some good home cooking!!!!

I have been working on my mouth rinses and and all the things I need to do to keep the mouth and throat healthy through the process. I'll explain what it all contains later.

Monday will be one of the rare days over the next couple of months that we don't have any appointments at all! After that we'll be pretty busy!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Saturday was a day off from most everything. We headed up the hill to do a little gambling (came home $11 ahead!) and pretty much just get away from everything. A little mental hygiene for the two of us! It wasn't very crowded due to the snow so the smoke wasn't bad and we had our pick of whatever slot we wanted.

I started to break out - the side effect of the Erbitux - pretty well through out the day! This is a good thing by the way as it shows that the drugs are working! My nose has taken the brunt of it so far and is pretty red and full of zits!!! I'm worried my voice will start changing again since I feel like a teenager with all the zits again! I do have them showing up on the cheeks, forehead, chin, neck and chest as well. Once it really gets going I'll post a pic or two.

One thing I forgot to mention in regards to the RT; I'll be getting an injection in the butt before every treatment...35 shots in the butt...may not be sitting well by the end of this!!! We don't remember what they are for so we'll have to ask again. We have been completely inundated with information this week and we tried to write down as much as we could but we did miss a couple of things!