A Whole New Adventure

January 31, 2023 12:30am- Got up to bring up. Radiation and me don’t like each other. Only 4 more.  5:00am- Got up to bring up again. I have to try to take my antacid pill and steroid before 6am since I have to have my last drink and food before 6am since I can’t drink or eat two hours before my full body CT scan. Then I go for my second radiation treatment.  This is not fun.  What an awful day. Went for a CT scan at 7:30am and then radiation. I was so sick. Dr Nguyen’s nurse met with us and and later the doctor called me at home. He said to increase my steroids again. I just can’t keep anything in.  Doctor called Steve to say to increase steroids 4 times a day. That seemed to help since I did not bring up before going to bed. That felt weird. 

January 30, 2023 - Change of plans  Took a pain killer at 4:45am., 2:25pm , 6:25pm, 9:30pm.  Took nausea pill at 1pm, Took my Antacid at 5:40am followed by steroids after Boost at 6:30am  Between my prayer group and #sweatforlise, how can I not get better.  8:45am-  The hospital called to say I was going to start full brain radiation from today at 2:00am until Friday rather than tomorrow. Now for my psychology preparation.  12:00pm- hospital called to say I have a CT scan tomorrow moving at 7:30am. No eating or drink 2 hours prior.   Ate celery and apple pieces.  2:30pm- Went for my first full brain radiation. Very painless 15 minutes procedure.  Here is my new  schedule for the week for my full headache radiation.  5:40pm  What a meal! Roast, mashed potatoes, and salad.  Had to ice my head because of headaches.  To bed at 9:30pm after I took a pain killer and nausea.  Just as I was going to bed, I was sick a couple of times. Not fun since I wasn’t expecting it. 

January 28, 2023 I received my radiation schedule and do not have to go for radiation on my full brain until  Tuesday. So hopefully I can get stronger.  Nicky is flying down today to stay with us for a bit.  Took a suppository for nausea at 1:30 , 6:00am. 10:00am, 5:00pm, 9pm which seems in helping with vomiting  6;45sm-Took my antacid pill.   Drank Booster and took my steroid pill at7:00am and 12:00 pm.  Took pain killer 11:15am, 6:30pm Great news…. My daughter is flying in from Florida and will be here today after 3pm.  3:30 pm/.Steve picked up Nicky and made it home. It is so nice to see her.  I had a craving for banana bread which Steve picked up at the bakery and cooked it. However after hanging one bite I could eat anymore. No worries, Steve and z Nicky did a good job on it.  Steve made wings, fries and celery for dinner. I couldn’t believe how much I ate. This is the first time I ate solids with no nausea.  Nicky noticed how much hair I am loosing and how hair is all over. She p

January 2 7,  2023 Weight 105 Lbs  Last day of long cancer. Slept last night. As long as I stay still, I don’t bring up.  5:15am- wrap my left leg in ice to relieve the pain shooting down my leg.  Took a diluted nausea pill after bringing up .5:25am 9:25am,  Took a pain reliever  5:45am , 9:40sm,2:00 pm, 6:00pm Because I can’t seem to keep anything done,, Steve had sick pills made in suppository which relieve some of the nausea. They are $8.a pill bit of they work, it is well worth it.  1:00pm- Went for an ECG  which Dr  wanted for base line for future.  3:30pm - Went for  my last lung radiation.   Took a suppository at 5:00 and 9:00pm.  I basically sleep.  To bed at 9 pm. 

January 26, 2023 Weight today is 95.5.  Woke up sick. Seems every time I move, I need to bring up. It is always the balancing act of taking my pills and not bring them up.  Took a pain killer- 3:45am, 9:30am, 12:30om,  4:30pm, 10:15 5:00am- Took my antacid pill  Tried to eat a cracker before taking my steroid at 5:45am Took a crushed nausea pill at 9:00am, 4:30 pm, 10:00pm Had to wrap my left leg is ice packs to relief some pain.  3:30pm-  Went for my radiation. Sick when I got home.  Haven’t been able to hold any food. If I sleep, I am ok until I start severe headaches and then I am sick.  Bed at 10:30. 

January 25, 2023 Weigh 98.5 I managed to get 4 Hrs sleep. 5:00am- Woke up headachy and nauseated. I just brought up phlegm, then I felt better.  Took a pain killer after I moved to the sunroom at 5:30am, 10:30pm 7:00am- Took antacids 7:15am- Tried drinking Boost, I took steroid  Took nauseated pills and steroids all day  I have a sharp pain running down my left leg and icing it to relieve pain.  Things have changed. I have to see brain oncologist first at 1:30 pm then treatment, then medical oncologist. Feeling crappy today. Lots of nausea.  Bad news is they found the cancer spread to the fluids of my brain and therefore I have to get a full brain radiation starting next week. The good news is they made a smaller mask this time and it only will be for 10-15 min treatments of 5 in the row. This may be why I am so sick.  I went for another CT scan in preparation for Monday the 30th.  I finally met Dr Wassleman, the medical doctor. He made us feel really hopeful. I qualify for the immunot

January 25, 2023 Because I stopped takin pain killer and nausea pills I didn’t have the greatest sleep but glad I am only going to take meds wham I need to.  3:30am- I moved to the sunroom so I didn’t keep Steve up. I was coughing a lot last night. They told me that would eventually happen when I get radiation.  5:00am- Took an ibuprofen for a slight headache with Boost.  6:00 am- Took antacid at 6:00am 6:30am- Took steroid.    8:00am- Steve made me a wonderful breakfast of yoghurt, cherries, strawberries. Pineapple, concentrated cherry juice, granola and maple syrup. Nice to have solids. What a sweetie!   8:30am- Notice I am starting to losing more hair were the area where  they radiated spots on the head .  They told me I would. I have a lot of hair so it shouldn’t be too noticeable. No big deal.  3:00pm- Radiation treatment  3:15pm- Meeting with Dr Nguyen, brain oncologist.  We are looking forward to ask all of questions during our visit to see Dr Waserman, the medical oncologist. 

January 23, 2023 Here we go again. Last radiation week. Today I go at 11:00. At least it is only 15 minutes.   Weigh 108.9 lbs 6:00am- Took my pain killers 6:30am- Took my antacid.  Had food and took my steroids. 6:45am, 12:45pm  7:30am- Took pain killer. M 6:30 pm- Took an ibuprofen for my back pain.  Slept most of the morning.  When we went to the hospital, they took me in early. It was a quick trip.  Laid down most of the day. Are solids all day. Steve made a great dinner of salad with a combo of veggies and chick  peas. I really enjoyed it.  Another week of these wonderful woman sweating in my honour. Thank you all for you support along with those sending many prayers and tributes daily.  Thank you Natalie for organizing this.  Also to my youngest grandsons who gave me Cleo and Koala to keep me company every morning. And the special blanket I received from my oldest.  9:00pm- Off to bed.  10:30pm- Woke up to an awful nightmare which Steve consoled me. Had a hard time falling asleep

January 21, 2023  Hoping since I have 2 days off from radiation, that it will give me time to recover until my next appt.  I kept popping my nausea pills all night so I don’t bring up. It is hard to manage taking pills at night. I am so tired and just want to sleep however know I would pay the consequences if I don’t. I slept last night and only brought up at 4:42am  then took my nausea pill.  Weight this morning is 98 pds.  6:00am- Brought up phlegm before taking my antacid.  6:30am-  Drank some Boost before taking my steroids. Doctor wants me to increase my steroids in case there is still a little swelling in the brain and it might take my headaches away.  Took my pain killer at 7:00am and 8:00pm Took my nausea pill at 10:30am, 4:15pm, 8:15pm Took my Antacid at 6:00am, and 12:15pm Took my steroids at 7:30 Am, 12:30pm.  Story about my antacid pill. I realized I ran out of my pills and only had a repeat. Guess what? My pharmacy was closed and now it is the weekend. Give a shut to Shopp

January 20, 2023  Weight was down to 98.5 this morning.  3:15am- Scared to take my pills since I may not retain them.  I have been bringing up every 2 hours. Surely not fun.  3:30am-  Took my pain killer and iced my head because of the headaches.  4:00am- Took my nausea pill after I brought up.  It is hard to manage taking the pill without bringing it up.  6:00am- Took my antacid pill. Took some Boost and 1/2 banana.  6:15am- Took my steroid.  Can’t wait until the radiation treatment is done  9:00am, 2:00pm and 7:10 pm took my pain killers.  At 4:00am, 8:30 am, 12:30pm and 6:00pm took my nausea pill.  3:35pm- went for radiation treatment and then  we saw  Dr Gnuyen afterwards to try and treat my nausea. I actually brought up while the Dr talked to us.  He suggested I change tq suppository nausea pills called Prochlorperazone (10mg) however no pharmacy carry it around this area. The pharmacist will try to find a drugstore who can make it. So disappointing.  While Steve was in the pharma

Day 4-January 19, 2023 My weight this morning is 100.1 lbs. 👍 Brought up a bit of phlegm. No big deal.   5:45am-  Took my antacid pill.  6:00am-  Ate 1/2 banana and drank some Boost before taking my steroids.  6:30am- Took my pain killer. Slight headache this morning.  9:20am- Took a nausea pill. Once in a while I feel a tinge of nausea.  9:30am-  For breakfast, Steve made me scramble eggs and toast with strawberries on the side. He is determined to keep that weight on. What a sweetie!   Slept all afternoon. I have been headachy all day and a little feeling of nausea.  12:30 -  Steve brought me a bowl of soup with crackers. Took my bath afterwards. The weather has been so gloomy but at least no snow.  1:30pm- Took a nauseas pill.  2:35- Went for my radiation treatment. Unfortunately, I was sick on the way home.  Well it began. Every two hours I was throwing up. I was so sick I could eat anything. My head felt like it was going to explode. I kept putting ice packs. Must be the added ra

Day 3 -  January 18,  2023 Weight today was 99 lbs.  Since I wasn’t displaying any nausea and I ate solids all day, I decided not to take my nausea pill.  I think that it is what kept me up last night. I only took a pain killer for the slight headache I had.  I had such a good sleep.  Woke up once to take my pain killer at 12:00am and slept the rest of the time. I celebrate those moments. 👍 5:13- Took my Antacid pill  5::28 - Ate 1/2 banana and drank some Boost before taking my steroid. You have to take this pill on a full stomach.    9:00-  Steve brought me part of a scone, cereal and 1/4 cup of coffee for breakfast. It went down so good.  He is a food pusher these days and I make sure to eat it.  I realized I have to eat a little every 2 hours to feel good.  10:00am-  Took my pain killer pill.  1:00pm- I woke up with a slight headache. Steve served me a nice bowl of soup. I have lots of nutritional soups. According to my Captain, he insist I eat. 😋 2:00pm- Took my pain killer  3:35

Day 2- Lung Radiation  I didn’t get up sick all night.  Just got up to take my meds since I had a bad headache. I didn’t get a lot of sleep however I was just happy I didn’t bring up  5:30am- When I transferred all my stuff to the couch, that is when I brought up phlegm.  Started the process of taking my, antacid, steroids, pain killer and nausea pills.  I like moving in the sunroom because I can listen to soft music and take my mind off the pain and ice my head. I try not to wake Steve. He needs his sleep. It is very difficult for a caregiver and spouse.  8:00am- Had a little sleep and then brought up phlegm. Managed to drink some Boost.  Later I managed to eat cereal and held it in.  Slept most of the day. These pills make you so tired.  Had an appt with the lung  oncologist’s nurse, Julie, to ensure all is well before radiation.  3:15. Had radiation and then met up with Julie again. She told me I have an appt with a medical oncologist, Dr Waserman,  on January 25 and an head MRI Mar

January 16, 2023  I was up every 3 hours last night bringing up. I  will have to explain to the doctor that  I can’t seem to hold my food down. It sure gets tiring.  5:30am- Started the process of slowly taking my antacid, steroids, pain killer and nausea pills.  6:30am- Brought up a bit but felt better.  8:30am- Steve made me scramble eggs because it seems one thing I can retain. I only ate 1/2 but it is better than nothing.  9:00am- Managed to take a shower.   10.20am- Had my first lung radiation. They zeroed in on my. Trachea today and it was a lot more comfortable and only lasted 15 minutes. It shouldn’t cause headaches or nausea. It may cause me to cough more and I might have a sore throat. We will see. Met with Dr Nguyen. He is so caring and supportive. He prescribed Prochlorazine nausea pills. Because I will be seeing a doctor for the. next 10 days, they will monitor my dehydration situation and if necessary, they will give me IV fluids.  Anyways can’t wait to try the new nausea

January 14, 2023 6:00am- Not a good night. From the time I got off the couch last night until now, I was up all night throwing up and had such a severe headache. I kept icing it in between the times of taking my pain killers.  6:15am- Took my antacid pill but within 15 min, back to the toilet. I had to take my steroids and wasn’t sure what to do.  7:00am- I drank Boost to fill my stomach before taking it. Hope it stays in for 1/2hr.  I managed to sleep for 1.5 hours afterwards.  Let’s hope the day is better.  6:00-  I was on the couch all day. I did manage to eat a baked potatoe and part of an orange.  8:30pm- Took my pain killer.  9:00 pm- Off to bed I go.  Headaches are on and off. The pain killers help.  January 16, 2023 I managed to get some sleep and only got up twice to bring up. So much phlegm buildup. I try to ice my head for the headaches on top of taking pain killer.  The morning is difficult to take my pills. When I get up I have to take an antacid and then wait a bit and tr

Day 4- Last day for brain radiation  5:55am- Woke up with my morning ritual of bringing up phlegm which accumulates in my lungs. Hopefully, that will be it for today.  6:15am - Took my antacid pill then ate 1/2 banana before taking steroid and nausea pill.  I managed to eat a little for breakfast and lunch.  2:30pm- Took a nausea pill and driving to the hospital I took a pain killer.  3:00pm- Yay! Had my last brain and head radiation. Thank goodness I won’t be using the mask anymore.  This is how the table is set up for when I lay on the table. Notice the mask. . The technicians are really good    They even let me bring the mask home for a Halloween decoration. 😆 Steve couldn’t believe how hard it was.  The tape on the mask aligned the mask to the tattoos they put on my chest.    Steve sure gets a lot of reading done in the waiting room.  We were happy that I was not sick going home. Those nausea pills are working. I just have a headache.  This went to my heart. 💜. My daughters share

January 12, 2023  Didn’t have a good sleep. Some meds keep you up.  5:45am- I felt sick and brought up phlegm.  6:30am- Tom my antacid, my nausea pill , ate 1/2 banana and then had my steroid pill.  7:30am- Steve gave me cereal but I am struggling with it. Can’t wait until we can balance it out.  Going to try and get more sleep.  Slept all afternoon before I went for treatment. I couldn’t eat too much.  Steve cleaned the house. What a man!  ❤️ 2:30pm- I took 2 nausea pills and tried to eat a raisin bread and celery.  3:00pm- Had my 4th brain  Radiation treatment. One more to go tomorrow and I will be so happy since I won’t need to be locked into my mask.  4:00pm- Great news! First time I didn’t bring up on the way home from radiation. Steve and I were so happy.  5:30pm-  I actually ate with appetite Orzo Lemon chicken and Kale Soup which my daughters prepared. We have a freezer filled with food however I never had an appetite. I surely appreciate when I feel good.  I am very tired and

January 11, 2023 I didn’t get the greatest sleep last night. A slight headache and backache kept waking me up.  1:30pm- Took my nausea pill.  3:30- I took my pain killer and managed to get some sleep.  6:30am-  Woke up sick for 5 minutes and went in the sunroom on the couch. I didn’t waste time to take my steroids. First I took the antacid and ate a 1/2 banana They made me feel good yesterday. Hopefully, I get the same results today.  Wasn’t a good day all day today. It took everything I had to go for my radiation treatment.  I was so nauseous when I got there and then felt sicker when I saw the sign at the waiting room stating there is a 30 to 40 minute delay.  The good news is they had me see the doctor first and then the technician came to get me. The doctor prescribed me a new pill for my nausea. Let hope that works.  5:00pm - Poor Steve had to hear me be sick while we were driving home. Steve stopped to pick up the new meds at the pharmacy on our way home.   At this point I will t

January 10, 2023 12:30am-  Took my pain killer  4:30am- Had such a weird Dream. The beginning was beautiful were Steve and I were on a boat and I was at the bow with dolphins 🐬 jumping so high that one of them almost went on our boat. I was trying to capture photos when I accidentally fell in. I swam to the back of the boat to the ladder when Steve grabbed one of my arms to put it on the bottom railing thinking I was ok to come up on my own. He then had to tend to the boat since there was a big ship he was trying to prevent hitting. I never realized how weak I was and I was asking Steve to help me up. There was so much noise around us. All of a sudden, I felt something in the water nibbling on my toes. I was desperately trying to get out and crying to Steve to help. Wasn’t sure what was going to remain of my foot. Guess I won’t know because I then woke up. Weird!  6:30am- I didn’t sleep good last night even after taking Tramadol. It seems like the headaches increase but apparently tha

January 9, 2023 5:45am- Woke up and had to talk to the toilet this morning. Took a Zofran for the nauseas and it eventually settled.  6:00am- Took a pain killer and went to relax on the couch in the sunroom.  7:00am-  Once I got up, had to run back to the toilet. I now weigh 101.5 pds.  7:30am-  It was nice to see the moon this morning. The moon always make me feel good.  Ate 1/2 banana & Wheaties. Hopefully, they stay down.  I just hope my radiation treatments help me from being so sick and stop the headaches.  12:40pm- Had my first radiation treatment. It was 40 minutes long. It was uncomfortable because of the tight mask they place over my head. It was so tight that I couldn’t even cough. They removed it 3 times for me to cough in between treatments.  Afterwards, we met with Dr Nguyen who prescribed me steroids Dexamethasone and stomach meds Pantoprazole  since the steroids are hard on the stomach. I sure don’t want a stomach ulcer.  Apparently, the steroids will make me feel be

Jan 1, 2023 3:30am-  Woke up with a headache. Later I took Ibuprofen and Tylenol which released some of the pain and fell back asleep until 7:00am.  My daughters must of cooked enough meals so far to last a month or so.   I was able to eat solid foods all day without being nauseous and without just drinking boost. Steve is pushing me to eat so that I don’t loose any weight. He is sure my love and my support.  Nice to have caring friends surround us also. Prayers will get me thru this.  January 2, 2023 4:30am- I just can’t believe how much I sleep in 24 hrs. The headaches are always there now but at least the Ibuprofen/Tylenol every 8 hrs make it bearable.  10:00am- I felt strong enough to take a shower and have Nicky cut my hair.  Before  After.  I feel stronger and have better color today since I was able to eat solids. 👍 The girls vacuumed, dusted and washed the floors for me. I am so appreciate.  The girls introduced me to a game called “Sequence” 4:30pm- Nicky had to leave early t