D-Day

Tomorrow is the big day--actually, later this morning since it is so late. I had planned to be in bed a couple of hours ago but you know how that goes. Time just gets away sometimes no matter how much you try to plan ahead.

I don't think a person ever feels ready for this kind of thing. I'm not really scared, but I am apprehensive. Hundreds of thousands of people have gone through this before and come out alright. But sometimes numbers don't mean much. You can't wrap yourself up in a warm set of numbers like you can a blanket, unless you've won the lottery, that is!

Fun things that happen tomorrow...hmmm...let's see...

For starters, I get to start taking my Salagen. It's a drug that helps kick your salivary glands into overdrive. The hope is that this helps to preserve the salivary glands during radiation. Sometimes it helps a lot and sometimes not at all. I've already been told by my radiation oncologist that I'm almost guaranteed of losing 25% of my salivary glands. The most important function of saliva is protecting the teeth so my dental oncologist has already got me on a heavy dose of flouride to harden the enamel on my teeth as much as possible.

Tomorrow also marks the last day I'll be able to shave without an electric razor. After about three weeks, they say I won't even have to worry about shaving. I hate shaving, but honestly, I don't like the thought of not having the option!

Chemotherapy also starts tomorrow, and that is the wildcard. I don't know how I will react to it, but I've been told it should not be bad since it is a low dose. We'll see. It probably would have helped if I had been sleeping by now, but whatever.

I've been extremely fortunate so far when it comes to food. The folks at my work have taken very good care of me over the last several days. I have so much prepared food that just needs microwaving that my freezer can't take anymore! I've even got a few things in the fridge that I'll have to eat soon but it won't be a problem...trust me. This of course helps with the goal of gaining more weight. I forgot to weigh myself today but since I walk around feeling full all the time I'd say there must be some kind of improvement!

So that about does it. Hopefully I'll be well enough in the coming days to continue work which would mean no posts to the blog for at least a couple days. If I'm sick at home, then maybe I'll be able to put together a few nuggets of wisdom for you all.

Thanks for reading!