The FINAL day!!

Today is the final day of radiation. This is a significant point as we continue on to the next part of this expedition. We will be celebrating by going out to The Olive Garden tonight. It will be mid June before we know whether the cancer is in remission (MRI and port removal) and have the joy of setting that as a major milestone.

Spirits are good and as I walked through the oncology clinic today. It is surreal to see others in different places in the journey.  Mothers or fathers asleep while kids in masks watch TV or others where mom and dad are able to both be here. Kids from infants to teenagers, all different walks of life, beliefs, and financial status. It seems to be one of the few things that crosses all barriers and is not influenced by anything.  The one constant trait that is seen everywhere is tiredness. As I told one of the nurses that today was our last radiation treatments she responded with, " oh that is the reasons for the smiles."  They are not a common here. I now have true empathy for these folks and remember how we have been supported from all of you and from organizations for which we are extremely grateful. I am also grateful for a mind that is quick to look ahead and remind myself that we are only 2\3 done and we must remain vigilant.

Ethan's sight is the same which is actually good news. We were expecting a decline, but it appears that there was just a pause in improving. The sight is not an eye problem but an issue with neurons in the optical tract and the brain is trying to repair itself and this is why no glasses or other measures are being taken at this point. The eyes are good so if we adjust what he sees the brain will not think there is a need to repair and it won't. This begs the question of how long do wait to see if it will repair? Right now we wait till we know cancer is in remission and he has recovered from radiation which is approximately 2 months.

He now has hair that is 1\8 inch long on the top of his head (like a toupee), the back of his neck, (so he has a bald ring where most men don't go bald) face, and his eyebrows are back (started by the nose and worked their way out).

He is still napping everyday for 3 or 4 hours and walking 4 blocks wears him out. The say after 2 weeks he will see significant improvement with the fatigue. He still vacuums or does the dishes so it is not as if he is laying around.

The nausea..... This just won't go away! We take Zophran for this and it is on an “as needed” basis but to date we take it every 4 hours religiously. He can feel it wearing off and then takes 2 zantac and a benadryl every night to sleep.

Speaking of sleep his dream have been frequent and very vivid! As in every morning we hear of one or two in detail. Lol he even dreams of dreaming. For all those out there that like to interpret dreams he keeps losing his teeth. Lol should be fun to hear back on that from those that don't as well. Haha

Over the next 2 months we move from cancer patient to survivor. This will be interesting to see how we all have adjusted and what will be different going forward through the final leg. It is actually more overwhelming to me than the tumor.