Week 2: Treatments continue – October 1, 2024

Radiation

Elekta was back in action on Tuesday 1 October and I was back on the table in her mysterious embrace. “When you are ready Dennis .. deep breath …. hold …. Elekta does her thing …  whirr, grind, click … breathe normally.” There are 5-6 of those moments in the treatment session each day. Actual treatment time is about 10 minutes. Treatments are preceded by a bit of time consuming physical positioning of my body by the radiation technicians and fine adjustments of the Elekta’s patient table from the control room. When the technicians feel that they have me in the right position they do another CT image and VERY carefully compare my position on the day with the image of my position on which the treatment plan was designed. Position and checking can take 10-20 minutes. On many days, more time is spent getting me into position than on the actual treatment. I am grateful for the time and care that the radiation team take to get me into the right position. It is important because we want the malignant cancer cells hit by radiation and as little collateral damage to normal cells as possible. 

Radiation oncology consult

After radiation treatment it was time to consult the Radiation Oncology doctors. As we expected, the consult was a “How are things going? What are your side effects?” discussion, and we did it with Dr Eric Fong, the registrar, rather then Dr Wenchang Wong himself. That was fine. Essentially the radiation team are not anticipating major side effects from my radiation treatments. The source of the side effects that I am experiencing (nausea, tiredness, brain fogginess) are attributable to the chemotherapy not the radiation. The chat with Dr Fong lasted about 10 minutes. I will have weekly catch up chats with the radiation oncology team. They believe that uncomfortable radiation-linked side effects, (stinging sun burn patches on skin at the three points where the radiation beams enter my body, and collateral burning/irritation of the oesophagus), if they  are going to occur, will emerge Week 5 (starting 21 Oct) and Week 6 (starting 28 Oct). A joy to look forward to!

Consult with dietitian 

Our last consult on Tuesday was with the dietitian Teghnan. I had arranged the consult as a preliminary meeting to prepare the pathway for advice and support should eating become an issue as treatment progresses. That was my plan – Teghan had an alternative approach. lol. First suggestion was a weigh. My notes listed me as 88kg (it’s a lie!) on Monday 23 Sept, just over a week later I weight in at 84.9kg. Normally a cause for rejoicing, losing 3kg in a week was an unexpected shock and a bit of a concern. Next step was discussion of our eating habits. Wait for this. Teghan asked about alcohol consumption. David helpfully answered for me, along the lines of “This is Denny and he loves a bevvy!” Teghan replies: “Oh you were a wine drinker?” I acknowledged my weakness. “Oh that makes sense then. Wine has a lot of calories. If were a drinker and stop the wine you would lose a few kilos.” The rest of the consult was spent with Teghan encouraging me FORTIFTY every mouthful I eat. Fortify you ask? In other words, forget low fat and skim. ADD butter, cream, cheese, oil, protein powder, protein  protein protein and fat fat fat to every mouthful! All the things that have been on the reduce/avoid list for 30 years are not only on  the list again, but MANDATORY.  The rationale is that my body needs energy (proteins and carbohydrates) to: (i) fight the cancer; (ii) replenish normal red blood cells, white blood cells; and blood platelets destroyed by the chemotherapy; and, to heal from the effects of chemoradiation treatments on my immune system, digestive system, and other bodily systems. It was a radically different consult than we had expected  by Teghan was informative and encouraging. Luckily, unlike the impacts on other people, eating has not been a problem for me (as yet).