Sunday, September 16, 2012

Radiation side effects

Perhaps I was getting a bit complacent that I hadn't really felt much in the way of side effects from radiation.  There was a bit of an indication of things being different on Wednesday, and I definitely was feeling effects by Thursday, right on target, 2 weeks after I started treatment.

It's not as bad as some later parts of chemo, where sometimes I basically laid around all day and did nothing, but I am starting to feel more fatigued.  I managed to once again practice yoga twice last week (Tuesday and Wednesday), but that might be the end of that for a little bit.  And I'm riding my bike noticeably less (I can't remember biking at all since returning from our getaway last weekend).  And picking up (and just taking car of) Dylan is getting more tiring.  Admittedly he is probably getting continually heavier.

The most annoying side effect is soreness in my throat, and trouble swallowing.  Which is a bit of a saddening setback -- prior to getting treatment, eating had become quite the chore, and almost always painful, which had led to a very serious drop in my weight (about 25 pounds).  It was awesome to have eating be a pleasure again, and with a few exceptions I was able to eat whatever I wanted.  I had even recently passed a threshold that I had longed for for some time, where drinking good beer was enjoyable again.  (I reveled in a Tripel Karmeliet, and savored an Allagash White.)  But now, once again I have to be a bit careful eating.  I'm trying to find foods and/or drinks that help, but I'm not having that much luck.  Tea seems to be mixed -- at first it was soothing, but sometimes the heat, or the ingredients (like the ginger in a lemon/ginger herbal) are a bit irritating.  Kefir is somewhat helpful.  So far the main strategy that's helping is to eat very small bites, very slowly, chew a ridiculous amount, and swallow carefully.  Which I believe is causing me to start to lose weight again -- this morning I dipped slightly below 140#.  Perhaps ice cream would be soothing (and full of plenty calories).  I'm pondering making some vanilla ice cream tonight and tomorrow (the custard sits in the fridge overnight) -- although Lorien has dutifully pointed out that I could actually go out and *buy* ice cream instead.

Thankfully, this all ought to be over in a reasonable amount of time, in the big picture.  I'm already more than halfway through radiation, with only 7 more treatments to go.  Nevertheless, I have appreciated having a break from treatment this weekend.  But my recent history of doing fun stuff on the weekend is on hiatus for a little while.  We had been hoping to make it to Tahoe sometime while the weather was still warm, but I'm not sure whether or not that will end up happening.

One side effect that thankfully hasn't (yet?) been severe is a skin reaction.  I was expecting something similar to a sunburn on my chest and upper back.  I think the skin might be a little affected, but it's very hard to tell.  Certainly nothing very serious.

Also, my hair continues to come back.  Especially in the back, it's starting to look more like a close cropped crew cut and less like a bald head.

2 comments:

Judy said...

You'll probably find your hair will grow back curlier than before.

dingdingwikki said...

Well, hopefully if it does it will be temporary.