The last day of chemo

Well, we made it. Today was the last day (for this round) of chemo. Roger has had chemo drugs coursing through his system Tuesday through today. As I've shared with you before, each day seems to take its toll on him a little more. He has only been a little quesy throughout - but has continued to feel more terrible with each passing day. He said its kinda like the flu on steriods. He spends 75% of the day sleeping whether at the oncology center while getting drugs, in the car on the way home, or at home home. Until today, he had been staying downstairs on the mainlevel of the house with me - sitting in his chair in the family room. Today, all he wanted was bed. We anticipate that the weekend will probably be bad, but that come Monday or Tuesday, he should not feel the chemo directly. The drugs at that point will continue to work their "magic" on all his cells behind the scenes.

The next impact that he will feel will most likely be week three of radiation, the week of Sept 21. According to the nurses, this is when the cumulative effect of the radiation will start to cause discomfort in the esophagus. We're still hopeful that Roger will be able to manage to eat/drink without the need of a feeding tube. He really doesn't want a feeding tube.... He is expected to have a total of 5 weeks of radiation; we just completed week one.

As Roger has been going through this, I have tried to stay busy with doing work remotely (sometimes a little tough since the oncology center isn't wireless), reading all of the chemo/radiation materials the nurses have provided, researching and planning meals for now and the coming future. And then when we get home and I get him settled in for the evening, I go to the grocery and then start cooking. I've been steaming and roasting vegetables to puree and mix into other foods later, making soups to freeze, etc. I've also started stock piling items to make smoothies and to supplement the "soft foods" with protein. Trying to make the food as nutritious as possible (with loads of extra protein) while still being interesting to Roger.

We've been taking a walk every evening. Tonight's was very short. We'll try again tomorrow.

Much love to all ~ R & A