The Final Stand - Day 22

Good evening everyone! I hope you all survived Monday and look forward to Tuesday. Today kicked-off my fourth week of receiving cancer treatments.

I woke-up this morning with a lot of mucus in my throat. I spent a couple minutes hacking and coughing, even used warm water in an attempt to knock it loose. It was a little tricky, but I was able to establish a clear windpipe. I've read on many forums that I should expect this mucus to get much worse. I believe this is the first sign that I am developing mucositis, which is a painful inflammation of the mucus membranes. It is very common, rather expected side effect to chemotherapy and radiation for head and neck cancers.

Aside from the mucus build-up, my mouth sores are starting to become irritating. Jess and I had a discussion about it in the car today and we believe the sores may be effecting my ability to speak clearly. We don't know whether it is the swelling and inflammation or instinctive guarding from pain, something is muffling my speech. I need to use my saltwater and baking soda rinse more often, but the thought of adding saltwater to my already super salty tasting mouth is holding me back. As it is, water is getting more and more difficult to drink, and oddly, it has nothing to do with my ability to swallow. I am confident that without this PEG tube, I would starve to death... with or without any associated pain.

Jess had work today, but as usual, she was home by 11:00 to escort me to my appointment. The radiation oncology office must have been busy today because we had wait longer than usual. I was called back about ten minutes past my scheduled appointment time. I wasn't too upset considering how quickly they had got me in and out on Friday. I was going to live stream my radiation session to Facebook today, but there is no signal inside the treatment room due to a foot of lead built-in to each of the surrounding walls. Instead, I recorded the session. It is long, but the video will give you an idea of what I go through during each session.

After my appointment, Jess drove me to REI. I had not been to the REI here in Tucson yet, and was pleased to walk among the many items I hope to one day use as I hike across the Pacific Crest Trail. I didn't buy any camping gear today, but I did get a hiking guide for Arizona. I think I will start will a couple small backpacking adventures before I try to dive into a four to five month expedition. I know there are some great multi-day hikes in the Grand Canyon. If anyone is up for it, let me know so we can start planning soon... Carpe Diem!

 I took a good two hour nap when I got home this afternoon. The radiation has a funny way of draining a person almost immediately. I spent the evening tube feeding and watching some T.V. I watched "Hot Pursuit" with Reese Witherspoon and Sophia Vergara. It had some funny lines in it, but overall, not the gut busting comedy I was hoping for.

Well, I need to get to bed soon. I have Radiation at 9:20 followed closely with chemo. I imagine the next couple days will be a blast. NOT!