Tuesday, July 12, 2011

7/12/11 SIRT Part 3

Leading up to this last of the SIRT treatments I was feeling terrible...it was the worst I've been in a while. Everything was starting to catch up with me. I was undergoing chemotherapy, external radiation on my rib, and about to repeat an internal radiation procedure which I had almost six weeks ago. The radiation on the rib really threw me for a loop and made me incredibly sick. I couldn't keep any food or liquids down for about two days. At that point the dry-heaving was so miserable I couldn't even drive my self to my appointment and my mother had to come home early from work so I could receive my radiation as well as some hydration fluids through an IV that the doctors thought were a good idea. It's a good thing I received those fluids because I was in pretty rough shape heading into that weekend and I most likely would have wound up in the hospital at some point. But I survived that weekend and had my last radiation session on my rib which is thankfully starting to feel a bit better. I'll just have to take it one day at a time there because I can't forget I still fractured the bone a while back and it needs to heal at some point.

Each phase of the SIRT treatment has been different in terms of what I experienced, what I was awake for, what I felt, etc. This one was the absolute worst of the three. Things were running a bit behind that day in the surgery center so I could tell I'd have to wait a bit longer which wasn't much fun since I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in over 12 hours. The wait was uncomfortable because I was still in some pain from my rib and I elected not to bring any pain medicine with me for the trip like an idiot. Anyways, once I was back and getting all set up for the surgery I was brought into the room and everyone was already talking about having to stay late because their first surgery went long. I completely trust the doctors and surgeons I see, but it's not always comforting witnessing everyone being asked if they could stay a bit late if mine goes overtime. Oh well...we were underway...bring on the anesthesia! Wait, no anesthesia? What's going on here? I don't know if this was done in order to save time or if I just got lucky my second time and my dosage of drugs was high enough to keep me asleep the whole time, but I was wide awake for too much than I'd like to recall.

The nurse affirmed that she was in fact serious that the folley would be inserted as I was awake and being prepped to go. I won't go into detail but my instructions were to "Clench your toes and hands." Awesome. After I was put on the operating table my arms and legs were strapped down accordingly and I was really hoping this would be the part where I take my nap and wake up in recovery...wrong again! "Ok this should be the worst part," a voice said as the needle pierced the skin near my groin to deliver its numbing agent. Before the area was completely numb the incision was made and I winced at the sting. I did finally become a bit groggy during parts of the procedure, but there were times I was able to sing along to the songs playing over the speakers, inform the surgeons who was singing a particular song they couldn't figure out, and at one point hear my surgeon tell the nurse to "Give him something more because he is completely awake." I wish my adventure ended there, but that would be letting me off the hook too easily. When it came time to inject the radioactive material I had no idea that I was about to experience some of the worst pain I've ever felt, and it was a good thing my arms and legs were strapped down because I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Each push of the material felt like someone had a knife inside my mid-section and was slowly turning it. I finally let out an "Ow" loud enough to catch their attention. It didn't take the nurse long to administer more sedatives once she saw the agony on my face. That's the last part of the procedure that I remember...overall it sucked and I'm glad I won't have to be doing that again anytime soon.

I've been recovering pretty well so far from the procedure...they were able to get 30% more of the radiation directly into the liver which is very good. I've just been very tired and the steroids they have me on not only bring me back to the acne filled days of high school, but make me wired at odd hours of the night. I fell asleep at 7am today and woke up at about 1pm so hopefully I'll be able to figure that out in the next few days. Either way, the nausea hasn't been too bad and I've been able to relax without having anything to worry about. Thanks to my family, my appetite has been pretty good so far and they've taken it upon themselves to make sure I'm eating healthier and doing all we can to help me gain some strength and a few pounds. That's about it for now though...nothing else too exciting going on...one day at a time.

1 comment:

  1. Your inspiring to so many..your strength is awesome..you will get through anything..one day at time is only way to live. I am from North Haven too..great article in North Haven post.

    ReplyDelete