Daily Quote: "As much as I would have liked to have kept my cancer private, I now realise that I have a certain responsibility to those who are fighting their own fights and may be able to benefit from learning about mine." — Farrah Fawcett on her cancer / May 14, 2009
This morning I visited Dr Snehal Rohitdesal, M.D. of Digestive Associates for a consultation on feeding tubes. He stated that having a feeding tube installed in my stomach is a precautionary measure due to the possibility of not being able to chew and swallow food because of the damaging effects radiation has on the mouth and throat, such as bleeding gums, open sores, raw throat, etc. I may or may not need to use the feeding tube, but best to have it as I'll need nutrition to help fight the disease.
I'll need to visit Valley Hospital 1 to 2 days prior to procedure and have nothing to eat or drink six hours prior to exam. (Mostly paper work, release forms, and of course co-payment beforehand)
The nurses at Valley Hospital will show me how to clean the skin and feeding tubes, the cleaning process should be done three times a day as the feeding tube is a foreign object to the stomach.
Therefore, I'm now scheduled to have a feeding tube installed at Valley Hospital on Thursday, May 5th at 1:00 p.m. I'll need to have my wife, Suzie, pick me up after the operation as I'll be under a mild anesthetic.
This whole feeding tube situation does sound horrible to me, totally unnatural, but realize I may need to use it.
Later in the morning I visited my Radiologist and had radiation done on my throat and neck. Took only 15 minutes, pretty easy today. Had a small grilled chicken for lunch. I'm no longer nauseous, but still very tired, will be taking an afternoon nap soon.
Tomorrow morning my radiation will be at 7:45 a.m. and will begin working the four day weekend, 12-hour work days, it's going to be tough as I won't be able to take any medications that would affect my driving, therefore no nauseous medications.
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3 comments:
It sounds like your battle has well and truly begun.... you're doing great!! Keep it up... and keep your strength up with plenty of rest.
Consider the aloe vera drink; I don't think it will make you sleepy.
Sorry to hear that you can't take the nausea meds. Hopefully there's other options you can use, and I hope your Dr's are open to alternative treatments that will allow you to continue to work. I'll be thinking of you on the 5th and hope all goes well with your procedure.
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