FIRST FULL WEEK.

TOMORROW COMPLETES MY FIRST FULL WEEK OF A SIX WEEK DEMAND FOR CHEMO AND RADIATION. AT LEAST NOW I HAVE A TARGET TO SHOOT AT AS IT RELATES TO KNOWING WHERE THE TIME FRAMES ARE.

IF I AM FULLY SATURATED WITH CHEMO RIGHT NOW AND THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING FULLY SATURATED AT ONE WEEK AND FULLY SATURATED AT SIX WEEKS, I'LL BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS AS LONG AS I CAN GO TO JOEY'S OR TIM JR'S AND KRISTIN'S AFTER THE TREATMENT. IN DOING SO, I HAVE FULL AND IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO EVERYTHING I NEED IN THE FORM OF ANTI NAUSEA PILLS OR ICE WATER, ETC.

IMMEDIATE ACCESS IS KEY. NEVER THOUGHT THAT THE AMOUNT OF FOOD YOU HAD IN YOUR STOMACH PRIOR TO TAKING ANY KIND OF TREATMENT WOULD BE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND MISERY. IF YOU HAVE TO DO THIS, BE SURE TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING DIET TO THE "T".

THE STEROID THING IS REALLY WILD, TOO. IT REDUCES THE BRAIN SWELLING BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT MAKES YOU SPEED AND PREVENTS YOU FROM OVERCOMING THE FATIGUE THAT ALWAYS COMES WITH CHEMO AND RADIATION. I FINALLY WENT DOWN AT 3 A.M. LAST NIGHT AND GOT UP EARLY AS USUSAL. DESPITE ALL THAT AND ANOTHER DOSE OF FATIGUE INDUCING CHEMO AND RADIATION TODAY, I'M STILL UP AND IT'S ALMOST 11 PM. I'VE NOTICED THAT THE POSTING TIME ON THE BLOG IS ABOUT TWO HOURS BEHIND THE ACTUAL TIME BUT TRUST ME, NO MATTER WHAT IT SAYS BELOW, IT'S EXACTLY 10:44 PM. RIGHT NOW.

I'M FEELING LUCKY EXCEPT TO SAY THAT LAST NIGHT TIM JR HAD A BOUT WITH FOOD POISONING AND SPENT ALL DAY IN THE WILLIS KNIGHTON HOSPITAL. BUTLER CLAN SEEMS TO HAVE A POX ON THEM LATELY AND KRISTIN HAS BEEN LITERALLY WORKING FULL TIME TAKING CARE OF BOTH OF US. WHAT A DAUGHTER IN LAW! WHAT A LUCKY GUY I AM.

GUESS THIS IS ABOUT AS GOOD A POST AS ONE COULD EXPECT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. GOTTA GIVE THANKS FOR EVERY LITTLE VICTORY. CAN'T WAIT TO GET A BIT FURTHER DOWN THE LINE, CLOSER TO A COMPLETION DATE.

NOT KNOWING WILL DRIVE YOU NUTS BUT AT LEAST KNOWING WHAT THE FIGHT IS ALL ABOUT AND WHEN THE BOUTS BEGIN EVERY DAY, MAKES IT SOMETHING YOU CAN GET UP FOR AND SET A TIME FRAME TO GO DO BATTLE.

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN. STILL KICKIN THAT TUMOR'S ASS!!!! TIM SR.

Thursday's chemo and radiation

Surprisingly enough, I feel really at peace at the moment. I'm not suffering any kind of stomach duress at all and in fact am experiencing somewhat of a calm feeling this afternoon after radiation.

Each day there is a period of fatigue that comes. Curing that is as simple as forcing yourself to lay down and take a nap. It's a bit hard to do that when you are injected with steroids to keep the brain swelling in check because the steroid is like speed. Despite that, I can sometimes lay down and get a 30 minute "shot in the arm" so to speak and even though that's probably considered a short nap by some, it's enough to rejuvenate my spirit.

Thanks for checking in on me. Thanks to Jay, Woody, Hubert, Richard, Byron, mmcoa.org., 11th ACR, 199th Lib and Fireball Aviation and the Red River Valley Fighter Pilot's Association. Also want to thank all my buddies from kindergarten days all the way through college and flight school. The support and good wishes from all of you is like electricity to me.

I'll keep on truckin', ya'll keep on keepin' on.

Regards and thanks again,

Tim Senior

Yippee, Glad that ride is OVER.

I sure am glad that last night's ride is over with.

As it turned out, all that stomach business went away and I finally made it down about 3 a.m. This morning, I feel okay and have decided that it certainly isn't that full saturation thing of the chemo and more than likely I should take the Sulfa Monster on a full stomach.

In any event, maybe I was just a little paranoid about my last post but going through this "solo" and the fact that I have no base line information to lean on, makes anything worthy of noting.

So, all in all, I'm feeling pretty damn good this morning considering that I haven't had any sleep. If there's a good side to last night, I stayed up and watched a Neil Young concert while the stomach thing was going on. It was on ch 337 if you have direct tv and if you see it, watch it or record it. Lots of good ole tunes like Harvest Moon, Dog named King and many others. Well worth the watching.

Well, it's time to get moving. There's a chemo treatment comin up in a little bit but you can bet I'm on a double dose of breakfast already and have a full stomach to soften the blow. I'm just hedging my bets so to speak.

Hangin' tough!

Senior!

Sulfamethoxazole

Took a Sulfamethoxazole tablet at 8:30 tonight and have pretty much had a fire in my stomach since then. I think it is an antibiodic but I'm so stoned I'm not sure. It's 22 minutes past midnight and I can't sleep because the stomach pain is enough to make it almost impossible. I'm so glad that I'm not doing the nausea thing even though I feel like my stomach is on fire.

Could be that this is the full saturation of the chemo instead of the Sulfamethoxazole but in either event, this has been the toughest night I've had so far. I'm not sick, sick with it but just super uncomfortable. even ice cold water doesn't seem to calm it down.

If this is as tough as it gets, I'll be able to handle it. It's just real uncomfortable and enough to kill your nightime sleeping patterns. Don't know when I'll make it to sleep but will definately have another test drive on this pill Friday. Maybe by then I'll be able to isolate it and draw some conclusions between this one and the full saturation thing because I don't have to take another one of the Sulfmonsters until Friday night.

Just makin' the note for you guys to know. I'm doin' one hell of alot better than any of the ohter radiation patients I see every day at the VA hospital. Alot of "whiners" there. Thought about getting another tee shirt made that says: "How about a nice hot cup of Quityourbitchin" but decided to blow that off. I just hate to go there to get well and have to listen to all the bitchin' and moanin' from the other guys who just don't seem to get how important it is to have a postive mental attitude about this kind of battle.

Half past midnight and I'm hittin a cup of ice water hopin' that it'll put the fire out. See ya'll tomorrow. tb sr

FULL SATURATION ON CHEMO

I'M AT FULL SATURATION ON CHEMO NOW. IT'S DIFFERENT BUT BY FOLLOWING THE EXACT AND SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE ONCOLOGY DEPARTMENT REGARDING "EATING BREAKFAST" 2 HOURS BEFORE TAKING THE ANTI NAUSEA PILLS BEFORE CHEMO", I AM HANDLING IT.

I LOOK AT THE EXCEL SPREADSHEET KRISTIN MADE EVERY TIME I GO TO THE KITCHEN TO DRINK THE WATER I HAVE TO TAKE TO KEEP FROM GETTING DEHYDRATED AGAIN. APPARENTLY, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT BUT NO MORE. I'M NOT ALLOWED TO SWEAT OR EVEN GET SUN ON MY HEAD.

I'M HANGIN TUFF AND IF THINGS KEEP ROLLING ALONG LIKE THIS, I'LL BE ABLE TO MAKE THE SIX WEEK CHEMO AND RADIATION TREATMENT WITHOUT IT KILLING ME. MY ONCOLOGIST ROCKS!

BACK TO LALA LAND. TB SR.

The 72 hour target

Am preparing to discover what the 72 hour mark is like. That is the number of hours I've been told that it would take for the drugs to saturate my body. I'm on 150 mg per day of the chemo so I'm just guessing that it takes 72 hours for 450 mg to do it's thing to the bone marrow.

Bottom line is this: Between the regimen of a required breakfast to give one a full stomach two hours prior to the chemo and the last procedure of radiation every day, I'm hooked up for a 7 hour schedule five days per week for six weeks total. This is a real easy schedule so far from a standpoint of physical demands as I have Tim Jr or Joey driving me to and from the VA every day. What a luxury that is as I'm not allowed to drive at this time.

We have been instructed to obtain a "spill kit" to insure that no one will touch anything relative to the drugs I have on hand here. Should the nausea become a problem, that will handle it. No one is even allowed to touch the pills and instead have been instructed to "pour the pills into the cap of the bottle" and from there, I will simply take the pills like pouring them out of the cap like a drink.

VA benefits are incredible. We are actually thrilled at the $1.84 bill we received from them last week as this is the sum total from an estimated +$100,000.00 brain surgery bill + 2 days in the SICW, surgery intensive care ward as well as another estimated $200,000.00 for all the chemo and radiation that is to come.

The VA is super and has been since I started with them in 2004.

Well, I'm off for chemo and have to run. Will fill you guys in when I'm back from radiation about 2:30 or so CST if I'm able to.

Hangin' tough.

Round 2 of radiation

Radiation makes you real, real sleepy. Started at 1;30 P.M. and was out of the hospital by 2 p.m. with only the slightest indication of fatigue. That may be from the nausea meds but I'm not sure. In any event, I'm finished with day 2 and I've not had the first hint of nausea. Felt gutsy enough to eat a cheeseburger from Strawn's on the way home. It's about an hour and a half after rad and I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. I managed to get my hours changed from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 pm so it wouldn't screw up my entire day. Would rather lose the late afternoon than the morning.

Marvin, thanks for the comment.

Senior!