To hurl, or not to hurl, that is the question!

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    Tonight’s the big night.  At bedtime Dan takes two different Temodar tablets, one 140mg and the other 20mg.  He is scared.  So am I.  People with very big hearts and good intentions keep telling me about their personal experiences with chemotherapy.

“They puked all down the hall!”

“They’ll say mean things to you!  Every bad feeling they have, they’ll take out on you!”

“They’ll ask you to cook one thing, then refuse to eat it!”

“You’ll get use to the smell of puke in no time!”

“Dan will look great bald!”

Dan almost one month after craniotomy.

    These are the snippets of conversation that I took to the radiologist when we met with him for the first time.  So I asked the doctor to give it to us straight.  To not hold back.  What are we in for when Dan takes the chemo and the radiation?

“Not much really.  A little irritation at the point of radiation.  Mostly fatigue.”

    “What?  That’s it?  Are you serious?”  Dan and I had been hearing that same thing from various doctors  however, there were little asides that gave us pause.  One nurse wanted us to be part of a clinical trial that would make him feel “a whole lot better” during chemo and radiation.  The neuro oncologist prescribes TWO anit-nausea pills just in case one is not enough.  Hmmmmmm.

    Dan says, “Let’s keep a vomit bucket by the bed.”   He has given in to visions on par with the projectile vomiting induced by the “black drink” of indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands.

    Not me.

    I will wear my pretty pajamas, leave my long hair hanging loose and the good rug by the bed.  I trust no one will be sacrificing our labor intensive ketogenic meal of lemon chicken and cauliflower tonight….