Treatment Week 2 (Imported from benvscancer.com 02SEP2015)

2 September 2015
 know it’s been a little bit since I’ve posted. Sorry, I’ve been tired.
I had my second Chemotherapy treatment on Monday, though they were a bit concerned since my white blood cell count was down to 2 from 5 the week before, but they did it anyway. Next Monday is Labor Day, so they’re waiting until probably Wednesday for my chemo next week, to give me some more time to recover. I handled it well this time too, maybe better than last week. Still have my hair, but I did shave my beard, as it was getting kind of itchy due to the dry skin from the chemo.
I’d lost more weight too, dropped to 175.8. They’re talking about a feeding tube (J-tube) if I lose much more, so I’m trying to eat/drink more to keep my weight up. I bought the stuff for a shake and realized we didn’t have a blender, so I posted a plea to Facebook, and a nearby friend came through right away with one (Thanks Shannan and Dave!).
Monday during the chemotherapy treatment, I was there for lunch (they serve it at 11:30) and I had a small victory, I ate half a tuna fish sandwich! It was the best tuna fish sandwich I’ve ever had (and since it was from a hospital type place, I’m sure it really wasn’t that good), and I also followed it with a loaded potato soup, a bag of Doritos, two chocolate chip cookies, and an 8 ounce can of Pepsi. Excellent lunch.
Tuesday, I met with the radiation oncologist, and had gained 3 pounds from the shake (Thanks to my sister in law for the recipe, 1 banana, 6-7 strawberries, some milk, yogurt, 2/3-1 cup of peanut butter, blend well and force down your throat) so I’m trying to have 1-2 of them a day now, though I dislike bananas, don’t really like peanut butter, and there’s a lot of both in there. He says too that I’ve been holding still well for the radiation, so they’re getting the tumor just like they should.
I’m still feeling tired, a bit dizzy, and my mouth is raw. They tell me to keep my teeth brushed, and I’ve been doing that better than I have in years. Maybe I’ll at least develop some good dental habits out of all this anyway.

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