The last treatment

At last, the treatments are over!!!!!

Yesterday, I went for the thirteenth and last treatment. I go back to see Dr. Han in two weeks. I also see Dr. Della Rocca in about two weeks.

They let me take home the pig’s head as a souvenir. I am thinking of mounting it on the wall, sort of like a trophy. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

This past weekend, I sort of hit the wall. On Sunday, I was so exhausted that I felt like I was walking uphill no matter which way I was going. The cold from hell has still been clinging to me. I left work an hour early, and collapsed when I got home. Monday morning, I woke with a raging sore throat and dragged myself to the last treatment, with the expectation that, if I made it to work, I would not make it all the way to the end of the shift.

But somehow, I got a second wind. I worked to the end of the day and was even reasonably chipper.

So, what do I have to show for thirteen sessions of radiation?

I think I have some improvement on the eye, but I am not absolutely sure. My eye was looking better and I seemed to be having less double vision. But I am also having dryness in that eye and some blurriness of the vision. Dr. Della Rocca had told me that my retina might have some temporary reaction to the radiation, and I am chalking the blurriness to that. I will mention the dryness to Dr. Della Rocca when I see him, if it doesn’t resolve by then.

The other good news is that I am now down to 10 milligrams of prednisone. I have not been this low in at least 4 months. I still use the prednisone eye drops.

I asked my friend Heather how bad I had been when I was on the highest doses of prednisone. She paused for a bit and said that I had been talking very fast. I said, “You mean I was talking even faster than I usually do?” She admitted that this is what she meant. Ahhh, prednisone mania.

Heading to Home Plate

The end is in sight. I had five treatments this week. I lay on the table five times and had five intimate little sessions with radiation. On Monday, I have my last treatment.

I really feel that my eye is better. I have not been experiencing any double vision, or at most only a very little bit. My eye is a bit dry, but that is the worst of it.

Better, now that I am well down on my prednisone dose I am feeling way more human. I asked a friend whether I was as nutty as I thought I was when I was on high doses of prednisone. She paused and said that I had been talking very fast and was a little manic. So it wasn't just my imagination.

Results start to appear

Things are proceeding apace. I had my ninth treatment today. I am now sure that my eye has receded to its normal position, which is excellent. Dr. Kaul told me to keep using eye drops if my eye feels dry and I am doing that.

I still have some residual bruising around my eye from the biopsy surgery. The black and blue is completely gone, but there is this faint shadow of a black eye that is still there. Dr. Kaul looked at my eye and at the incision and suggested that I put vitamin E oil on it. Just stick a pin in a vitamin E capsule and squirt the oil on my skin. I started doing that yesterday. I probably should have thought of this before because I have put vitamin E on other bruises or burns.

The good news is that now I am down to 15 milligrams of prednisone without the eye starting to swell up. I have not been able to get down to this level in months without the swelling coming back. So this here radiation thing is working.

At 15 milligrams, I am having far fewer prednisone side effects. I made a large pot of beef stew last night and ate only one bowl full. If I had been on 60 milligrams of prednisone, I would have probably scarfed down three bowls.

The other good news of the day is that I ran into one of Bernie’s doctors yesterday. He asked me if I had had a flu shot yet and I said that I hadn’t. He told me to show up at his office today and he would give me one. This is the first time that I have ever had a flu shot. My arm is sore, but other than that, I feel OK.

And that is the general message of the day. I feel OK.

More of the Same

As I predicted, treatment is getting to be a routine. I go to the center. I lie down on the table. They put the mask/helmet on and the treatment starts.

So far, I am irradiated from two directions during each treatment. One direction has the x-ray machine at right angles to the right side of my face. The second has the machine at about a 45 degree angle to the left side of my face, with the beam of radiation passing through my nose and behind my right eye at an angle. I am not too sure if any other angles or directions will be used, but I will let you know.

My right eye is a bit dry now. I am using both prednisone eye drops and regular eye drops to moisturize the eye. The dryness is not bad. I could probably do without the drops, but the eye would be a bit scratchy.

As far as evidence that the treatment is working, I think my eye has receded to its normal position. It is hard to say. After you have been staring into a mirror at your face for a while, everything on it looks weird. Does that happen to everyone or is that just me?

I only had four treatments this week. On Wednesday, Mike the tech called me at 9 a.m. to tell me that the x-ray machine had fried a board. I asked him if it also fried a side order of bacon. He laughed and said that he would call me to come in if the parts arrived and the machine was back up to speed that day, but it didn't happen.

The good news is that Dr. Della Rocca has dropped my dosage on the prednisone and it will drop again next week. I am now taking 20milligramss a day and will drop to 15 milligrams next week. I am starting to feel way more normal. Ok, maybe I am feeling more like I usually do. "Normal" is always a bit of a stretch for me.

Just how bad were things sometimes with the prednisone? I am not proud of this, so do not think that I am bragging. Two weeks ago I decided to have spaghetti for dinner and made a whole pound of pasta, with the plan to have leftovers the next day. I ate half of it, which is a honking lot of pasta. About a half hour later, I ate the other half. This should serve as an illustration and warning of how absolutely out of control your appetite -- and your judgment --gets when you are on high doses of prednisone.

The only other odd thing going on is that I appear to be having my periods again, full bore. I am 51 freaking years old!! I started early. I should have been able to give my uterus a gold watch and a retirement party by now!! Just when I thought things were tailing up, with spotting here and there but no real periods, here it is, just as if I were 15 or 22 or 40. Forty-two freaking years. I have no idea if this is a result of taking prednisone for long periods, of the radiation, of the general upheaval in my life, or what. (And if any guys out there feel that this was too much information, go off and talk about football quietly among yourselves, OK?)