Just Short of Miserable

I believe I have found the source of my pain and thus no longer need to speak to my doctor about it. Last week I was having abdominal cramping and took Imodium A-D, as per one of my radiation nurses. Now that I am no longer taking the stuff, the pain has decreased. I will speak to my doctor about an alternative to Imodium so that I might be able to avoid any additional pain from abdominal cramping.

In the mean time, the chemotherapy administered to me (5-FU) has caused sores on the inside of my bottom lip which seriously limits my ability to eat without pain. Although I have found that cold foods are significantly easier to tolerate. And I will speak to the chemotherapy staff and find out what else might provide me some relief, since I have six more weeks of chemotherapy and certainly can not afford to reduce my caloric intake for that long.

The radiation on the other hand is causing a reaction in the treatment area that feels like a sunburn. So, every time I visit the bathroom, which for me is quite frequent, I must face the sting that results from any type of contact on this "sunburned" area. Essentially, I feel like I kissed a jellyfish then took my pants down and sat on it.

If you have never come into contact with a jellyfish, they sting whatever part of your body they touch (except for the palms of your hands and the bottoms of your feet - which is irrelevant for this conversation).

So, I can say with ease that my level of physical discomfort is just short of miserable. I do have topical treatments to reduce both discomforts, but they only reduce the discomfort - they do not cure it or remove it. Daniela keeps reminding me this is temporary and that does help a little. And I will share my situation with my doctors on Monday and find out if they have any additional remedies for me.