Dick Foster - My 2010 Challenge

Love, hope, joy are powerful healers.

Final Radiation Treatment – Yeah!

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I’ve not been doing a very good job of keeping my blog up to date. My apologies.

Today I completed my 33rd and final radiation treatment – I’ve graduated, and I’m sure that my cancer has been eradicated.

I want to thank everyone whom has prayed for me during the past 18 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. I know that prayer works and I certainly appreciate your support.

I have been extremely fortunate in that my side-effects have been minimal. The treatment regimen was aggressive and the doctors “warned me” that most people have difficulty eating, swallowing, and working during treatment. Until the past week, my side-effects have been almost non-existent. Recently I’ve developed sores on my tongue and mouth. Although they did not feel “minor” to me, the doctors have assured me that most people get these types of side-effects after radiation treatment #10, not #30.

Of course, now come the follow-up doctor appointments and examinations for the next one- year, plus. Fatigue is likely to continue for awhile. My first CT scan is scheduled for 3 months out to confirm that the cancer is gone.

Thanks, Dick

Radiation – One-third Completed

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Today was my eleventh complete radiation treatment. So I’ve finished one-third of my 33 treatments! Gotta love those milestones.

I say “complete” treatments because last week the radiation machine stopped working before I was half way through my treatment. The doctor has not yet told me if I will need another full treatment, partial treatment, or no additional treatment due to the machine breakdown. So for now I’m being conservative in my treatment count.

I must say that I am getting along much better with my mask these days. With soft piano music playing and visualizing that I’m at the beach, I’m able to get through the treatments without medication or anxiety attacks. Thank the Lord.

About my only complaint is that I have dry mouth during the night and when I wake up in the morning. I’ve been rinsing with Biotene and that seems to help. Once I eat breakfast and get something to drink, I’ve not experienced the dry mouth during the day.

I’m still eating solid foods and swallowing just fine. This has allowed me to maintain my weight, which is one of my goals. Speaking of food, Lois, Mary’s Mom, fixed “sloppy Joe’s” for dinner tonight and they were very good (and filling).

Thanks for your prayers!

Chemo and Radiation – July 6

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Since Monday was a holiday, my chemotherapy appointment was moved to early Tuesday morning followed by radiation treatment in the afternoon. Dr. Barbara, my oncologist, does not have clinic hours on Tuesday’s so I did not see her today. Blood work first, then directly to the oncology lab for my chemo. My white blood cell count was down to 3.8 this week, which is just below the “normal” range low of 4.0. But not low enough to prevent me from receiving my chemo treatment.

These chemo treatments don’t take a long as the previous chemotherapy regimen of 3 chemo drugs. We were home my noon. After lunch, I worked for a couple of hours before leaving for my radiation treatment at 3:00pm. After the treatment, we met with the radiation oncologist. My mouth is looking good – no mouth sores – but my tongue has a white coating. The doctor suggested rinsing with aloe vera juice. Swallowing is fine and I’m eating solid foods without any difficulty.

Feeling fine. Continuing to work. Thanks for all your prayers!

Radiation Downtown Clinic – July 1 and 2

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It’s a good thing Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has multiple radiation machines at multiple locations within the Nashville area. The radiation machine at the Franklin clinic was “down” on Thursday and Friday, so I was re-scheduled to receive treatment at the downtown clinic. Since I am on “vacation” this week, it did not matter what time I received treatment, so I selected a morning option to avoid the afternoon traffic from downtown.

They are still working to get the downtown clinic fully repaired from the flood in May. Treatment rooms are completed, but many offices are not yet finished.

No problems with the treatment. Everything went smoothly, although they don’t have music at the downtown clinic. The Franklin clinic will play the radio or one of their CD selections – your request.  I’ve found that piano instrumental music helps me to relax and reduce my “mask anxiety” so I request that CD.

I “Broke” the Radiation Machine!

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Today was an “exciting” day receiving my radiation treatment. Following the usual procedure, they secured my mask to the treatment table and took a couple of x-rays to make sure everything was aligned properly for the treatment. The radiation machine rotated around my head as I remain stationary and “shot” the radiation beams from the first few angles – so far so good. Then the machine stopped for a lengthy period of time – not normal.

As I lay there, my mind started to wander, and wonder what’s going on. I had to work on my visualization and mental talk to keep my anxiety at a reasonable level. A few minutes later, Jackie comes in and said there’s a problem with the machine and they need to restart the unit. Her question to me was, “Would you like to stay here (with mask in place) or get up while they figure out what’s going on.” That was an easy question to answer – get me out of this mask, now! After 30 minutes or so, they decided that the machine was not going to restart and they would have to get the engineer to figure out the problem.

So the rest of my treatment was canceled – as was treatment for those in the lobby waiting. They will call me to let me know about where and when I will receive treatment tomorrow – probably at Vanderbilt downtown.

So I’m not sure if this will count at treatment #5 or whether I will need to complete it on an other day. The doctor will review and decide.