Happy New Years Eve!
I wish I could say this last week was easy. It has been at times very trying. I do want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I really appreciate it!
I started my radiation treatments on Tuesday and had one per day through Friday. The treatments themselves are very easy & quick. I'm only on the table about 2 - 3 minutes. It's the rest of the day that has been difficult at times.
I slept all day after my 1st treatment & slept great that night too. I got up Wednesday morning and when I got out of the shower I almost dropped to the floor. I had lightening like pain shooting from my low back down my legs to my mid thigh area. After that the muscles felt really tight and stretching didn't seem to help. After my treatment that day I went to talk to the doctor about what I experienced. He said they call that a pain flair and he prescribed a new pain medication for me to try. He said that about 30% of the people who start radiation have these. It seems we "angered it", causing some inflammation. It should get better as treatment progresses. So I went to fill my new prescription and headed home to rest. I slept most of this day too.
Thursday morning I woke up feeling nauseous and dizzy. To say Devin and I were a little worried is an understatement. None of the doctors warned about nausea during radiation so we were a bit confused as to what was going on. I managed to get myself ready and drive myself to treatment and I told them how I was feeling. After my treatment they walked me down to the nurses station and I spoke with a nurse about it and she prescribed another prescription to take away the nausea. I was feeling so lousy at this point I was willing to try anything that would help. So off to get the new prescription filled and the pharmacist told me that the main side effect of this drug is migraines. I thought, "are you kidding me. I am prone to migraines and I sure don't need one of those in the middle of this." So that prescription is sitting on my counter unopened for the time being. Meanwhile I think I figured out the the new pain prescription was causing me to be dizzy and nauseous so I stopped taking it. I rested a lot that day and was able to keep the pain to a minimum by just lounging around. Most of my pain is when I am standing and walking around.
Friday I woke up feeling much better and only took 1 pain pill to get me to treatment and back home. I layed down to take a nap when I got home and woke up with a headache. I didn't want it to turn into a migraine so I took one Tylenol and slept some more. It was gone when I woke up. Other than being tired a lot and having pain when being up and about I am doing pretty good now.
Prayers:
- For the swelling to come down to relieve some of the pain in my low back/pelvic area
- For next weeks treatments to go much better - no nausea or headaches
- For my appetite to return
PS. I still have my hair. My good friend Valerie knitted me this hat & dropped it off today. I will most likely lose my hair with my chemo. So she is doing some knitting for me to keep warm!
God always has a plan and brings people into our lives when we need them. He brought me to you thru my cousin Valerie after my fight with breast cancer. I am here for you in your fight. There is strength in numbers and when two or more people pray together. Heavenly Father hear our prayers for pain control, provide Lori with a better appetite and the strength to get thru the side effects of these treatments, in Jesus name we pray. Amen
Aunt Cyndy