radiation fatigue

I can't believe it has been over a week since I blogged. The radiation is taking its toll. Callum is very tired these days. The dexamethasone seemed to help him get over the nausea hump and he worked a couple of days last week. But he was exhausted on the weekend. He was a bit better on Monday, but was warned by the radiation techs that the fatigue will set in again during the week. And so it has. He had to have a nap this afternoon and was a bit grumpy before supper. He was much better this evening, though. He still gets a "funny tummy" every now and then, but is eating better. He will have a week of recovery between the last radiation treatment and the next cycle of chemo. He won't have chemo now until Oct 15. We ordered some Usana nutritional supplements that were recommended by the lead researcher at the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada. They arrived today and Callum started on this buffet of pills at dinner tonight. It is quite a mixture but is expected to help lessen the side effects of chemo and radiation and help him feel better overall. The research is quite positive so we are sure this will help improve the quality of every day. It can take a couple months to get the full effect, but we hope it happens quicker for him. We met with Dr. A on Monday and mentioned to him that we were wanting to take a trip to Scotland, and wondered when we should be taking that trip - before or after Christmas. He recommended we take it sooner rather than later and suggested we do it before Christmas. We are looking at making this the family trip to Scotland that we were going to take about 16 years ago (better late than never?) and have Jamie, Vanessa and Stuart come with us. With all of our various schedules it is looking like we will be going in early January. This conversation led to a discussion about the change of life expectancy now that there had been cancer spread into the brain. Now, sometimes time frames are wrong and sometimes they aren't helpful. And there are some mitigating factors in this case such as the brain lesions were found quite early and the gamma knife is usually quite a successful treatment and would impact life expectancy. The bad news is that he said he would estimate Callum's life expectancy between 6 months and a year, possibly longer than a year. Callum is more determined than ever to prove him wrong and be here for a lot longer than that! We heard just this week of some new and exciting research about a potential cure - viral therapy. They are hoping human trials can start in 2 - 3 years and he plans on being part of that trial. Check out the story at http://www.colorectal-cancer.ca/ .
Callum's parents arrived on Sunday for a visit. It has been nice having them here, especially when Callum has been home during the day. My sister and brother in law will be here Monday for a visit, and then our brothers and their families, along with Vanessa and Stuart will be here Thanksgiving weekend. It will be nice to catch up with everyone!

I think that is all for now. I have been a bit tired this week since I was away at an art retreat on the weekend - I was the organizer, not one of the artists! It was a beautiful location and a great retreat, but I am looking forward to some time off next week. Time for bed tonight......

"May you LIVE all the days of your life" Jonathon Swift

TTFN