Instead of scheduling the start of radiation treatments, I'm going back to the surgeon for another followup or two. I need some more healing from the surgery before they start the radiation.
Once the radiation starts, it will be every day for 5 or 6 weeks with a low dose of chemo every Friday. That's probably 2 or 3 weeks away. Patience is not one of my strong points (to put it mildly). I'm getting a bit burned out on how long everything is taking. Actually, it's more than a bit burned out. The only bright spot is that there's nothing growing back where the lump was.
I wasn't ready for the shock of a cancer treatment center waiting room. There were about 30 people waiting for their treatments. Most had someone with them. I will try to have a book to read whenever I go to that waiting room. It's bad enough seeing a husband and wife in their 70's and one of them in a wheel chair. I hope I never see a mother and a child in that waiting room.
I asked if I would lose my ability to taste food and produce saliva. Losing the sensation of taste is probably going to happen. With the radiation centered on my neck, I will probably continue producing saliva, but that's not certain. The doc warned me of a possibility of losing the ability to swallow. If that happens, it's back to a feeding tube.
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These effects will be temporary, won't they, Merlin? Not being able to taste, swallow, salivate? An effect of radiation and chemo? If they happen, you should recover these abilities after you're done with this shit, right?
All of those you mentioned are temporary.
The only permanent effect I've heard of is beard growth on the side that gets nuked. That's convenient from a shaving aspect, but it sure messes with growing a beard.
My grandmother had cancer in her face. After Radiation her food tasted metalic and she did not like eating. Also Dr. told her to stay out of sun from then on. Could be the amount of radiation for her. Might want to double check with your Dr. She wears big glasses and a scarf over head and face when going out on sunny days. Christy Z.
Christy, that sounds like skin cancer and the sun is a factor for recurrence.
My factor for recurrence is cigarette smoke. I'm likely to need to avoid cigarette smoke the way your grandmother had to avoid the sun. That creates problems for my playing any league darts.
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