'Round January I noticed a lump on my lymph note at the jawline and irritation at the base of the tongue. I gave it a couple weeks to resolve, and it did not.
I had a dentist appointment in February, and scheduled a medical checkup for the same day. The dentist didn't see anything on my tongue during their usual oral cancer check, even with my extra concern. Doctor sent me to an ENT.
ENT stuck a camera up my nose [Fun! Remember the scene in "Total Recall"? If not, don't go watch that now. Anyway, just a tiny camera, not a... well, anyways!]. Couple days later a couple demands come in via the ENT to get a scan of some kind involving large machines into which you are moved by servo-motors. That sends me to the point man on the cancer team [see "Second Opinion", I think, re: Occam's Razor.]
At this point, Kaiser just starts taking liberties with my time. I'm like, "Can we maybe schedule some of these on the same day? Every time I get an appointment, I have to spend about an hour writing sub plans!". Yeah, so Dr. G, the point man, sends me to more electronic tunnels with a slab on a servo, and a couple of biopsies that confirm that it is HPV- related-- not, thankfully, related to my 8 years as a smoker.
By this time, the school year is really coming to a head. Maybe we can start this after school is out? Maybe I can actually Get Away at least a little in early summer. Nope. Well, Dr. G hands me off to radiation therapy and chemotherapy folks. From here on in, Kaiser has dibs on my time. During the last week of school, I miss 4 of 5 days [see "Peaks and Troughs], returning only to say heartfelt goodbyes to my li'l bunnies, and providing precious little guidance to my subs. Bless substitute teachers' hearts!!! They muddled through and nothing got broken except the disc drawer of the DVD player that I only ever use on the last day of school.
That last week had me recovering from the installation of a feeding tube on my stomach which was not as fun as I had been led to believe. It hurt for quite a while, though on day 4 I was able to ride my bike and get it up on the train to see the students.
2 weeks after surgery, it was time to start radiation daily, Monday to Friday, and chemo once a week right after radiation.
The first radiation was harsh. It usually takes about 5 or 10 minutes, but the first session takes 15 or 20 minutes. Your tongue is immobilized, and you have to be able to breathe through your nose. Fortunately, this is something I have been practicing for the past 4 years or so, since my morning grudge matches against the Berkeley Hills on a bicycle. My goal there was to both inhale and exhale only through my nose, inspired by "Breath" by James Nestor, an author interviewed by Terry Gross in 2020. This is part of my one-word title book collection.*
The first session was very, very difficult. After that, it gets both objectively and subjectively shorter. I'll talk below about what the outcomes and side effects of radiation therapy.
Next up was chemo. Just like the scenes in "Breaking Bad", but a bit more medical, and less comfy. Sweet nurses. Claudia accompanied me at the first session. This whole thing creates a great deal anxiety for her. Lots of IV hydration beforehand. I was doing fine. In fact, next radiation treatment I bike the 5 [flat] miles to Kaiser. Mostly just to prove a point. I, uh, did not bike on the next 2 days.
I did fine for the next day and a half, and I failed preemptively to take my nausea meds. Nausea, a Greek term, means "puking your guts out", apparently. Through today, Saturday, I am not good for much, in part because you can't drive your car without gas and you can't run your body or your mind without food.
As you can see, I am now well enough to fire up my laptop and type. I want to take a walk in a bit. I'm doing better. I'll add more to the timeline next time. I want to review for myself and for any interested reader what the process will be-- it gets worse-- and what the effects will be.
*One word title. Preferably a mass noun like "sand", not a count noun like "trees". Nonfiction. Subject of book must be the same as the title. Examples: "Vanilla", "Cod", "Salt", "Banana"
3 comments:
I told you about Coal and Salt, right?
Thanks for the somehow entertaining description of you can get treatment experience.
I am sorry you have to go through it.
What an ordeal, Piet! Thank you for sharing the details of your journey and treatment with us. I send you continued strength, courage, and resolve -- which you have already demonstrated clearly -- through the aether! xo
Thanks Piet. Wierdly reassuring to have details. Glad you have learned the get ahead of your naseua with meds lesson. This is also true of any pain meds. I can't come up with a one word title non fiction book. Closest I can come is Sula, "Fiction" by Toni Morrison. Hoping for continued no throwing up days!
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