week 2

Hi there

Finished my 5th treatment yesterday. I have to say the whole thing is like a plane ride, only backwards.

I have the strangest feeling in my stomach with each treatment. It is a lot like hunger pains only different. I usually eat prior to going in, so it is not that.

The feeling seems to go away as I emerge to the regular atmosphere. I also notice an odd feeling in my lungs, not really a pain, just a hard to describe feeling that goes away within a few hours after the treatments end. WHen I am changing into my clothes at the end of treatment, my skin has this whole "lacework" of blood vessels, I gather from the high levels of oxygen.

I sleep incredibly well over here, not sure if that has to do with the treatments, or a different bed :)

I am still finding if I eat whole wheat toast for breakfast I have nausea all morning, if I eat white bread toast I am fine. I really am not expecting to see any real improvement until after this second whole week. I am going to start eating a regular diet, just so I know if there is any improvements.

I have to say I am feeling incredibly good about life these days. I feel certain that this problem will go away. I am very excited about my gardening projects. I have Basil, Tomatoes and Peppers coming up in my greenhouse flats and plan to "nurse" them along until April when I will plant them in the garden. I am very excited to perhaps have a garden that will get WARM enough that these things might grow in the garden.

Ken and I are so excited to have this little house, a total escape from work, it is like we get to go on holidays every 2 weeks.

Holding true to the Ken and Janet form, we have a bathroom half finished, a garden half finished, a paint job half finished in the living room.

Chewy has made friends with the rather large squirrels here in Eugene .... NOT! He just has trouble making new friends. Something about a large black dog barking and snarling that is just not endearing.

I will be here in Eugene for the next 10 days, Ken goes back next Monday for work.

The music is also going well, in that we have several "gigs" planned and are really starting to have fun with that and I am even considering the next cd,,,.....did I just say that..... I did promise myself after the last one NO MORE CDS. .....

So life is good.

I decided while I was at it to treat my lower lip with the efudex (5FU) as the lower lip bears the brunt of the sun, and I often have crusting of the lower lip. (I did call and ask my doctor about it) I did it for 7 Days and the lower lip just exploded. It got swollen, crusty, with bleeding and yellowish drainage. WHAT A MESS. I decided to stop treatments the day I started the hyperbarics. The lip continued to get worse for about 4 more days. Now it is starting to get better, healing along the edges, but the central area is still open, bleeding "pusy", but normal lip is starting to emerge. This has been much harder to do that on the face. But cancers on the lower lip are SOOOO common. Might as well deal with it all now.

Once I finish the hyperbarics I intend to start treating my arms and shoulders, they have definately bore the brunt of the sun.

I watched two episodes of criminal minds yesterday that were about a serial killer/pig farmer in Canada that fed body parts of his victims to his pigs ( I had to hide under the covers :))

Canadians out there...... does that sound familiar??

bye for now, love janet

jankenb @ gmail.com