Joe here. Sorry it's been so long since the last post. I finished up my radiation and the third round of chemo about 4 weeks ago. Right after that things got really rough for a while. The last week or so things have been on the upswing a bit, but for a few weeks there, I was feeling horrible. It was like all of the side effects I kept hearing that I should expect hit me like a sledgehammer all at once. I literally was unable to function, and it had a major effect on my state of mind. I was exhausted all the time. I did some research, and there is something called 'cancer related fatigue' (CRF) that is a common side effect for patients. It can be caused by chemo, radiation, or the disease itself. It comes on in a wave and is unrelated to expending energy, and sleep and/or rest are no help. Usually it will last for 3-4 weeks post-radiation, but it can sometimes linger for months or years. It was quite debilitating, and made things extremely stressful.. I started feeling like maybe this was how it was going to be for the foreseeable future, and that had me very depressed and anxious. I just couldn't seem to snap out of it. Along with the CRF, the pain from the tumor was somewhat unbearable, and my bodily functions were a mess. Things were not good for a while, to say the least. The doctors kept telling me just to hang in, and before too long I would "turn a corner", and it would feel like a "switch had been flipped". I think (and really hope) I may have turned that corner. For the last week and a half or so I've been starting to feel a little more normal. The fatigue is not nearly as much of a problem, although it still pops up now and then. My skin is pretty much healed from the damage the radiation caused in the areas where it was focused, and the pain has become easier to manage. I've been able to go to work a few times, which is great, and I am feeling like an actual productive member of society again.
I had a CT Scan last week. I had had an appointment with Dr. Vorenberg, my surgeon, a week before the scan, and he explained how we would proceed from here on out. If the scan showed that the disease had not spread to any other organs or areas of my body, we would stick to the original plan and I would have surgery in a few weeks. If the scan showed any evidence of the cancer having spread anywhere, the original tumor would become secondary, and I would immediately start another round of more powerful chemo. Thankfully, the results were good. The scan showed no evidence of any spread. They did find some pockets of fluid that had built up, but they've concluded that these are most likely the result of my treatments. I see Dr. Vorenberg for a rectal exam tomorrow. He wants to check everything out. Hopefully he'll find that all is well, and we'll proceed as planned.
My surgery is scheduled for October 21. I will most likely have another round of chemo post-surgery. I'll do my best to keep everyone up to date on new developments. Hope everyone is well. Much love.
