I'm trying really hard to stay awake enough to eek out this blog post. I'm so beat!
[Edit: Actually, I couldn't do it... Fell asleep! Now I'm putting on the finishing touches the next morning!]
The day began pretty nicely; I was feeling well and not having any fevers. I was supposed to have three sessions of TBI today, a few hours apart, so we needed to start early. But due to some equipment failure, things got delayed and I didn't go until a little before 10 AM.
They told me that the first session would take a little longer, because after lining me up in the machine, they would need to take an X-ray to make sure things were lined up as previously planned. After that, the treatments would just involve standing still for about 10-15 minutes. Unfortunately, the X-ray and alignment proved to be a game of trial and error, and they had to keep repeating it 5-6 times before they were happy. This whole time, I'm standing in what can be described as a plexiglass box, adjusted so I have no room to move or even nudge in any direction! Finally, things were good and they fired up the beam for the actual therapy.
It's a bit surreal. The machine looks like a giant cannon (it is, actually, a linear accelerator...) They point the business end at you from across the room, and make you stand in this plexiglass frame. Then the room door closes (one of those 2-foot-thick vault-like jobs) and they fire away. It even makes a "BZZZZZZZT!" noise, just like ray guns do in the movies.
After my first session, my only complaint was that the standing around and adjustments took forever. the treatment itself was fine, and that's the only part we'd need to do from now on.
By the time I had returned for my second session, I had again had some mild fevers and I was having chills, leaving me worried yet again, and also not physically feeling so great. When I was in the Radiation Oncology waiting area, one of the nurses milling about came up to me and said "Have you thrown up yet?". "Yet?" Perhaps she knew something I didn't!
I got strapped in to the plexiglass gig for round two, this being much quicker since they had pre-made measurements. But just as everyone exited the room and the vault door closed, I started to feel nasty feelings in my stomach. I banged around and yelled a bit, and they came back in (after waiting for the 20-second vault opening sequence) and as soon as they had me untied I was puking into a basin. A little bit of vomiting and a little rest was surprisingly cathartic, and I suddenly felt a lot better. Got strapped back in, and did the first half of the therapy no problem.
Then they reversed positions for me to get the therapy to my back. I was still feeling okay, and this would only take about 7 minutes, so onward we went. Let's just put it this way: There was such a rapid decline in my comfort level during those minutes. By about halfway through, I was getting queasy. With about a minute left, I really needed to throw up. But I did really just prefer to get it over with. When she gave me the "30 second" notice, I remember yelling "I'll make it, but afterwards you've gotta get me out of here fast!"
I became so lightheaded, that I think if they weren't holding on to my I would have passed out. They sat me in a chair, and I immediately vomited a couple of very painful times.
Back in my room a bit later, I was totally beat. Still nauseous, exhausted, and still the occasional chills. I had already been on a continuous IV drip of Zofran for nausea, and they gave me some Ativan to boost, and the latter helped put me to sleep.
I spent most of the day groggy and half asleep. My third radiation for the day got cancelled because of their equipment problems and backed up scheduling, and so will have to be made up later in the week.
By late evening, I was starting to feel well. I finally got out of bed, made some phone calls, started this blog post, etc. I was even feeling well enough to try to eat some Jell-O and lemon flavored Italian ice for dinner, which went down quite easy. I also sipped on a bit of cold soda.
But alas, an hour later, out of nowhere, up came everything. Thankfully I still had the empty cup from the soda sitting next to me, otherwise this computer would have been a mess.
So that was my night. Some more Ativan, and then to sleep again.
Awww, hang in there Sam! I know it's a tough ride! Thinking of you and sending virtual hugs!
Posted by: Arian | 20 March 2008 at 06:34 PM