Five weeks down!

Within a few hours, I will have my last radiation treatment for this week. That marks five weeks down and one to go! Yes, I see the light at the end of the treatment tunnel, and eagerly anticipate next Friday afternoon. My challenge over the next few weeks will be managing the blistering and damage the radiation is doing to my mouth and throat.

Earlier this week, I noted a concern with my weight and the ability to establish a good nutritional routine. As the nausea from the December 10th chemo treatment began to wane this week, it became easier for me to keep my food down and halt my weight loss. Yesterday, I was able to achieve 2000 calories for the first time in ten days. (At its worst, I was able to achieve only 600 calories over three days.) I believe I’m now on the right track to slowly, but surely add a few pounds each week.

I’ve always been a believer in the power of goal setting. While they seem trivial, even small goals like increasing nutritional intake by one can of liquid food per day, or doing what is necessary to make every radiation treatment help maintain a positive spirit and attitude. In fact, its when our physical and mental capacity are the lowest that our goals should be the most achievable. This increases odds of success, which further builds our confidence to overcome the next, more difficult hurdle.

Another observation I’ve had over the past few days is how relative assessment of one’s physical well-being can be. Its no secret chemo affected my body in a way I was not able to easily tolerate. As the intense nausea and fatigue began to subside earlier this week, I commented to Theresa how I felt a thousand times better. Since it was nice out, she suggested I walk outside to get the mail. While I indeed felt remarkably better, the effort to get the mail quickly reminded me of just how far I still have to return to normal strength. I’m confident I will continue to get stronger, but I’m a bit further away than my relative improvement in physical condition led me to believe.

Talk with you soon. I hope to have a little treat in my next post.