Body Report

So here's the short of it,
I'm really feeling pretty good, but I'm going to to a side effect update.

And here's the long

Well, I think I'll do a "body report".

Nose -  Thanks to all of you who wrote me with great advice about my nose.  I have done this so far.  At least 2 times a day I use a q-tip and sweet olive oil to massage the inside of my nasal passages where the sores are.  I then put on Bactroban, an antibiotic ointment I already had on hand.  I found the beeswax the other day at Greenlife Grocery, but haven't decided yet what kind of oil I want to use with it to make the unpetroleum jelly.  I'll probably tackle that over the weekend.  It seems that it will be very simple to make.  I've also done two things with the neti pot.  I'm using it less on the advice of two friends, and  I'm sterilizing it after every use.  I can see quite a bit of improvement with this routine, but the nose is still pretty sore, and it runs a lot, sometimes at the most unexpected times. 

Shoulders -  Monday through Friday, I lie down on that table and hold my arms up over my head and try to be really, really still.  Sometimes it seems that it's as little as 10 or 12 minutes; other times, it seems it's more than 30.  I can feel much more limberness in my stiff shoulders now after 10 treatments.  Once I'm no longer having treatments, I think I'll keep that stretch in my daily routine somehow. 

Skin - well, my oncologist did tell me very early on that the chemotherapy drugs often made skin disorders go away.  And I'm ever so grateful that in the midst of all my chemo discomfort, I didn't have to deal with the itchy rashes that I get on my legs, or the itchy back that seems to be a Howard characteristic.  All that is returning.  I've got the old winter rash on my legs - and medicine to put on it.  And my itchy back is back...

Hair - my eyebrows are noticeably coming back, at least to me. My right eyebrow was almost completely gone, and I can see lots of new growth just starting.  My left eyebrow didn't get quite so thin, but it's not coming back so quickly either. My eyelashes are growing back in and they are really tiny.  The hair on my head is beginning to grow in most places.  It feels very soft and downy right now. It's still very thin everywhere except the very top of my head.  And I think all the stress from these treatments has probably turned it gray!  So far I've not noticed any hair returning on my legs or arms.  I've been told that the underarm hair that's in the field of radiation will be permanently destroyed.  That will be pretty funny since the radiation field is not exactly the whole underarm.  

Feet -  My neuropathy doesn't seem much better, but I think the cold weather aggravates it.  Sometimes I think I'm having more of the tingly feeling than just numbness, and that might be an improvement.  I can tell that my fingers are a bit better. I still have some problems picking up things that are very tiny or very flat - like a coin on a flat surface. 

Fingernails.  My nails are separating from my nail bed, probably a quarter of an inch or more. Several of them have split.  I've put the super glue right on my basket of medicines.  It's funny that my right side has seemed much more impacted by the side effects, but it's my left hand's fingernails that are splitting worse.  Anyway, superglue got me through lots of cuts with the kids (and me) as they were growing up, and now I have another use for it; I'm just superglueing those split fingernails.  I'll bet that when I go to the grocery, I can find some nail epoxy, but until then, superglue it is!

Back/hip -  My right hip which has given me trouble since my back surgery all those years ago is really pretty aggravated by all this right now.  It stays pretty achy most of the time.  I know that a big part of it is that I haven't been strong enough to do my daily stretch routine.  So I'm taking more advil than I normally do.

Chemo Brain - This is very real.  I can really tell that I don't have the edge or sharpness that I used to.  It feels almost like I have holes in my brain, or like the gap is a bit too large for the synapse to happen.  

Port - My port is pretty achy sometimes.  The last time I saw Dr. Witherspoon and asked her about that she said that it's normal.  It probably doesn't help that that's the side I usually sleep on too.  I'll still be really glad to get it fixed.  I can put up with the achiness to not have my weekly infusions in a vein. 

Aches and Pains - I have this achiness from time to time that seems deep in my bones or joints.  It comes mostly when I'm really tired and after a long day.

Fatigue -  I'm doing OK with the fatigue right now.  I know I'm not really very strong, but I feel like I'm getting better every day.  Most people who've had experience with radiation have told me the real fatigue comes toward the end.  I'm thinking I'll just appreciate these days I'm having as long as they last. 

I hope I haven't sounded like I'm falling apart, because I'm really doing very well this last couple of weeks.  I am excited that I've completed 10 of the 36 radiation treatments.  I'm beginning to taste some things and enjoy eating a bit.  I'm looking forward to some time off after next week. And I'm already thinking of how good it will feel to snuggle down into my pillows in the morning and just sleep in for awhile.