Update, Week 9 after Zap&Rad...    Happy to report that most of my taste buds are on line!    The Radio Neck burns area around my collar is fully healed but still tender.  My back has been extremely sensitive, as if sunburned all week...but I think its a function of skin sloughing off (I call it Leopard skin, as my back is all splotchy).   I am guilty of spending a lot of time in the Arizona sun...sometimes forgetting to shirt up...but I do minimize exposure compared to doing outdoor projects for hours in just Speedos...   This week was mostly Super Sore muscle wise from really overdoing weights and cleaning up the yard at Sis.  I mean like three days of simply twitching a muscle at night made me groan.  Three days later I feel more...solid but I suspect instead of gaining mass I actually tore up tissue.     This morning woke up with swollen neck, mostly left side (oppositte cancer side) which is new, so we'll keep track.     Otherwise bracing for a slow recovery...but better than I feared.    Regards,   Joe AzTrucker ... View more

It'd have been nice to know that Chemo was going to screw up my body's ability to absorb Iron...and the direct relationship between Iron and Fatigue. Take it from someone who didn't do his research and spent the 2 months of Chemo and Rad mostly in the couch while a backyard was dying to be made beatiful at our new house. Now Head and Neck cancer patients have the problem that Sooner or Sooner eating (as in appettite) and swallowing (as in serious pain) will cut down the number of calories you can put in your body. Foods like shredded spinach cooked in butter or your favorite sauce must be an essential part of your diet. Broccoli is also iron rich and was swallowable during my worst of times. Cereals like Total-iron rich-perhaps with hot chocolate or morning coffee would have made a good choice for me. I've read (I know, don't believe everything you google) that chemo can stop your body's ability to absorb iron by as much as 90%! Now let's be fair and question whether it's the actual stuff they jack you with or just the side effects-including loss of appetite and difficulty swallowing. One thing you want to do is keep an eye on that blood test you get at every chemo. Google what each item is and do mind everything to do with your red blood cell count and oxygen absorption. Now apparently there is such a thing as complications arising from too much Iron intake. I really don't see this being a problem while going thru chemo and Rad. I'd use The State of My Energy (as in Fatigue) and I'd use those blood test numbers (as in red blood cell count dropping) as a marker and make Broccoli, Iron rich Cereals and Spinach...and whatever Iron Rich foods I can swallow, a must have item at least twice in my daily tortuous feed sessions. Now I refused to have a feed tube installed (ask yourself what business does a 62 year old cancer patient has wearing a Speedo bathing suit, but that's totally me-and a feed tube was simply aesthetically intolerable) but I've read that even with direct to stomach feed there might be Iron absorption issues. You do not want to assume a feed tube guarantees proper diet. Listen to your body, talk to your health practitioners (after all they Practice on You)...and get as much Iron as you need to keep Fatigue and Anemia at bay during and after your treatment. Now, exactly a month after my last Chemo/Rad I'm maybe a week into this Iron rich diet thing...and its made all the difference in my energy level. Regards and find laughter Joe AzTrucker ... View more

That Radio Neck Rash Update...     As I mentioned three weeks ago...my neck skin started breaking up right around two weeks after the last Radio treatment.    I blamed it on my proclivity for being in the Arizona Desert Sun whenever I get the chance and energy but it seems it was just a natural progression in the aftermath of the treatment.     The dry patches sloughed off to display the fatty tissues in the endodermis and further lower.  Painful to say the least.    As you can see from the pics, the skin just kept sloughing off all around the neck, specially the front and towards the collarbone.    Being a wimp when it comes to. Pain in inconvenient places, we took a trip to the Dollar store and got their generic Triple Antibiotic Cream (tried regular A&D ointment but I don't believe it worked as fast on the healing end).    I am happy to report that after a 13 day period, the Radio Collar is healed, the skin well on its way to returning to "normal".    By the way-after applying the ointment, my sweetheart (Wife and family CEO as well) did put gauze bandage all around the neck to minimize chafing.       How it started   Real ouchy stage 8 days   About 13 days after 1st pic. Almost healed   ... View more

Woof!     I made it through the 7 week radio and chemo somewhat unscathed by the Radio Rash syndrome.   Three weeks after the last Radio, the skin around my neck began to look domewhat sunburned.    This has become progressively worse, the skin now totally burned through at some spots and yes, pain-full!  Wearing collared clothes not an option and sleeping was interesting since pillow ans linens seem to find a way to chafe after raw spots. I've started using A&D ointment on it and have watched the skin slowly peel off to a sickly white in places but all in all it seems to be slowly healing.    My point is...my skin showed no signs of Radio burns while under treatment...I wonder if it's a long term or short term condition.   ... View more