"Hello Clarice..."

They strapped me in this morning for treatment #13, of 15, so I am nearly complete. As I showed before, they strap me into a mask and onto a board to deliver the treatment, which is very Hannibal Lecter-esque. I still have difficulty swallowing but now have a solution to drink before meals which numbs my mouth and throat, which has helped some.

Kristina's dad is in town from CO for the weekend and we're going to do some relaxing and play tourist a little bit. Going to an Oyster Festival on Sunday to benefit the Cape and Islands United Way, and hope to see another victory by BC tomorrow. Pats will make us wait until Monday night to witness another domination, but it should be a great way to start the week.

As it stands now my final radiation appointment is next Tuesday at 8:50am - which then completes my cancer treatment process. Gives me goose-bumps to write that; it's been a long journey thus far, but I feel very fortunate to have tolerated so much of it so well. I still have a lot of diagnostic follow-ups, but things look very positive for no recurrence and I am excited to move on with life. My hair has begun to grow back, and life is really pretty damn good.

Enjoy your weekends, thanks for coming by and get ready to party next Tuesday - I walk out of the Davenport-Mugar Cancer Center a free man - we won't really party, but I'm sure Kristina and I will have a nice dinner and reflect on the entire experience (food will have to be soft for me to eat, maybe Italian?)

Enjoy the weekend! - Gary

Swallow This

My first side-effects from radiation appear to have arrived; difficulty swallowing. It feels like my throat is about 1/4 of the size it is normally and it makes it very uncomfortable to eat. Foods that are dry or sharp (chips, bread) are particularly difficult, and even a swig of water that's a little too big can cause some pain. In the grand scheme it's a small price to pay to have my cancer cured, but it certainly makes meals interesting.

Weekend was good, with a trip to King Richard's Faire, a win by BC and another thorough stomping by the Pats - plus unseasonable heat in the area - it all added up to a nice break from work. Had my 9th radiation appointment first thing this morning, which only leaves 6 - be done a week from tomorrow.

All else is well, hope you all enjoyed your weekends - Gary

Another Short One

The Sox lost 2 of 3 from the Yanks and appear to be heading towards a monumental collapse to end the season…at a minimum their chances to succeed in the playoffs look bleak.  Meanwhile BC and the Pats are whipping up a storm, so it’s on to football right now.

Radiation marches on, every day…I am through 4 treatments of 15 and still not noticing any side effects.  I remain busy and the once daily trip to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment has become a mere annoyance at this point.  My whole experience with cancer is something I think about in the past tense and I am looking forward to actually completing all the necessary treatments and moving ahead. 

Other than that, things are going well, keeping busy, feeling good and living life.

Hope you all are well - Gary

 

Update

Been pretty busy lately but things are going really well; started radiation Wednesday afternoon and it’s a piece of cake – you truly cannot tell you are having anything done.  Having my head locked down to the table is not all that pleasant, but a small price to pay. 

Best perk of radiation; free massages in the waiting room – part of the hospitals “holistic” approach to healthcare, and now part of my daily routine for the next few weeks.

Feel great, can’t stress that enough, and I’ve been keeping really busy…conference in Boston Monday and Tuesday, hit the Sox Monday night and watched them lose to the D-Rays, had a big event last night here on the Cape that went tremendously well, going up to Suffolk Downs tomorrow night from my grandfather’s 80^th b-day, and hitting up the Red Sox Sunday night, hopefully to watch them complete a devastating sweep of the Yankees. 

Chemo barely slowed me down, I am not going to let radiation slow me down and I am looking forward to a great September here on Cape Cod.

All the best, enjoy your weekends - Gary

Radiation

Had my appointment yesterday afternoon to get mapped out for radiation; pretty interesting stuff. They essentially put me in a CT Scan like device to get imagery and then use those images, as well as some markings they made, to map the treatment area on the computer. They put a mask on me, which is exactly like what you see here; the idea of the mask is to keep my head still while I receive treatments and also to pull my head slightly back so they can get at the area around the neck. They are trying as much as possible to keep away from the salivary glands and some other areas, because the adverse reaction from radiation in those areas is a little more severe.
I will begin radiation next Wednesday, 9/12, and am scheduled for 15 visits, which has me done on October 2nd, 2007. In the process of being there they gave me some permanent markings, tattoos, essentially...they're small dots on my chest area. Now that I'm bald and have some tats I figure it's time to buck-up and get a Harley to go along with the look.
All else is well, looking forward to starting/finishing radiation and happy to be so close to the end. All the best and enjoy your weekends - Gary