Anti-Nausea, Chemotherapy, Anti-Seizure, and Ear Antibiotics . . . A Recipe For Adventure!

Happy Spring Break everyone!  Teacher's everywhere probably agree with me, but parents whose kids are now home for the week might not.  At least it is sunny so they could always be pushed outside to play.  (Now that I've said that I'm sure that I've jinxed it and it will start raining/snowing any minute).

First things first; an ear infection update.  On Thursday I went in to see Dr. Stilles (my radiologist) . . . again. This time it was for a second look at my infected left ear to see if the given treatment had any affect.  Happily, all the gross gunk/puss/gooey-ness that was there is now gone, however it is still just as swollen as before.  The good thing is that this pretty much eliminates the chances that it is a fungal infection.  However, the bad thing is that it makes it more likely that it is permanent damage from the radiation treatment.  Dr. Stilles has put me on my antibiotic ear drops for another week to see if all we need to do is continue the treatment on the infection longer than normal thanks to my chemo treatments.  If there is no significant change when I see him again in two weeks, then I'll have to start searching for hearing aids.  Yuck.  If nothing else, it will guarantee that no one will ever be able to talk behind my back (Ha!  Knee slap on that one!)

I also visited Dr. Wagner (my oncologist) the same afternoon I saw Dr. Stiles.  I am very happy to say that the results of the blood work testing that was done that day with Dr. Wagner (or his identical twin brother ;) were really good.  My blood work, in a very pleasant surprise, came back 100% normal.  Woohoo!  Since the nausea I experienced with my last week of chemo was quite a bit below what most people experience with a double dosage, and my blood work came back so well, my weeks of chemo treatments over the next six months will all be triple my original dosage.  That Temodar (chemo) prescription and I are going to have to bond even more.  The only difference from now on (other than the dosage) is that I am going to start my five days of chemo treatment on a Wednesday instead of a Monday.  That way my last two, and toughest, days will be over the weekend instead of on Thursday and Friday when I am working.  I would really rather not lose my lunch on a student if I could avoid it.  So far I feel the most nauseous at home, not at work.  I think the fact that I am always up and moving at work helps with that.  However, this could be a good lesson in health class on the digestive system :).  

I also have a request for bald/balding people everywhere . . . how can you prevent getting a sunburn on your head ?  Sunscreen makes my scalp into a greasy mess, and most hats that look cool enough for spring/summer weather have holes or gaps in them that would expose parts of my head or my neck.  I went out into our yard yesterday for fifteen minutes without a hat, and managed to get a sunburn on my head.  They really weren't kidding when they said that the radiation treatment would make my head ultra-sensitive to sunlight.  Today when I go out to do some yard work, I'm going to just wear a hooded light jacket along with a bandanna.  I may look like a creepy vampire, but I won't get burned!

For anyone who gets really bored over Spring Break:
LOTS of dominoes