Friday, December 21, 2012

How about an update?

 These pics to the left are Cam getting ready for surgery to remove the irritating lump in his throat.  That was Oct 24. 

Then the pathology came back to our shock and surprise indicating lymphoma.  We have since learned that lymphoma isn't really 'solved' by surgery.  So if we had some way of knowing this was lymphoma prior, there wouldn't have been any surgery - just the chemo to get rid of it.

But since we DIDN'T know, the surgery is what actually provided the opportunity to find out the irritating lump was cancer.

Of course, the surgery was very much like a tonsellectomy with all the soreness of swallowing that comes with that so Cam lost about 15 pounds right after the surgery - which he is quite pleased about.  He is now hovering around a weight he had wanted to be for awhile.  But he's not allowed to lose any more weight.

So then chemo started on Nov 26, and the 2nd chemo was Dec 17 (my birthday) and I was happy to celebrate it by going to chemo.  Anything that will get rid of the cancer is a good birthday present.


So here we are in the chemo room, rigged out to kill 4 hours.  It is far less boring than you might think.  There is always something going on - machines beeping, meds being changed, nurses in & out asking you stuff.  New chemo patients arriving to your chemo pod & getting quizzed by the nurses - and there is no privacy for that so we hear everything.  Basically, nothing has changed in the chemo room.
I spoke with another patient getting chemo for breast cancer.  Only 34!!!  With 2 young kids!!  This world is going to hell in a handbasket.... 
 
Cam has said today that he will be happy when these few months are finished.  I don't blame him, either!!  But this IS chemo week when you feel your crappiest, so I imagine he is suffering through constant 'blah' feeling and maybe hangover.  I can't tell you for SURE b/c he doesn't complain much.  So I am asking him regularly how he's doing and usually the response is 'Meh - about as good as can be expected - I didn't expect to feel like a million bucks throught his process'.
 
I am very proud of Cam and the way he is handling all of this.
 

1 comment:

  1. Shana and Cam,
    just wanted to say I've been thinking about you these past few weeks/months and hope that you are feeling okay and managing through this crisis. Cancer is not a great thing to happen to anyone, and I wanted to say that I really admire both of you for your strength and courage through all of this. I think we can all learn from you both and the importance of taking care of yourself both physically and mentally. Thanks again for sharing your stories as it helps all of us understand what you are going through. Take care, Pat and Warren.

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