Side effects continue

Well we're settling in back home.

Dave had a rough day yesterday.

He went to LRCP for his weekly blood test and to replace the 5-FU bottle. He discussed his latest side effects - neuropathy (pain in his feet & hands caused by the drugs stripping the protective covering from nerve endings), as well mouth sores he's starting to get. (They gave him a prescription for mouth wash to rinse with 4 times/day.) They reduced the 5-FU amount by 30% for this week because of these side effects.

He still has a pain a few inches from the feeding tube but nobody seems to know what that's from. He went down to the radiology department (where they put in the feeding tube) for them to look at it. They cauterized the area around his tube to help some pain at the site. (It's like having a constant cut that doesn't heal and so is often painful there as well.) They don't believe the pain he's feeling a few inches from the tube has anything to do with the feeding tube, or even the suture anchor that is still stuck in his chest. (Click here to read about that story.)

The cancer clinic also did a swab at the site of the feeding tube yesterday. They called me this afternoon and it shows that there is a bit of an infection starting, so now he's also on an antibiotic for 7 days.

This all just seems to be a big headache for Dave and he's not even using the feeding tube. He has been able to eat OK and hasn't been using it for over a month now. (We're very thankful that he hasn't had to deal with the noise and aggravation of the feeding pump on top of all the chemo side effects.)

So yesterday wasn't a great day for Dave. He was exhausted and obviously in pain later in the evening. He's not really taking any pain meds though and just doesn't want to. (He has taken the occasional Tylenol 3, but usually at my pushing when I see that he's really obviously in pain from the neuropathy and the pain in his chest.) He says the neuropathy is like walking on glass.

Today he seems to be better. A friend drove him to Costco (thanks Bill!) to buy a Vitamix blender which we need for his new raw living food diet. (I've been borrowing a friend's for the past few days - thanks Barb!) I can tell he's feeling better because he's laughing at 'Blazing Saddles' on tv this evening and hasn't fallen asleep!

Thank you all for your concern and prayers.

I also wanted to mention for those of you that want to help out with food, my biggest issue right now is finding and stocking enough organic carrots. I go through well over 6 lbs of carrots every day. If you see some and want to drop some off it would be appreciated. (In addition to beating cancer, Dave's eyesight is going to be awesome after all that carrot juice!) Please don't feel obliged, I just know that a lot of people would like to help out and that just came to mind.

Much love.

Val