Day 15 of treatment...

So far, status quo, not good, not bad. That said, Tom hasn't had any Chemo this week. He's getting a little repreive next week too. He starts back on Chemo a week from Monday.

At therapy last week, we met a very nice gentleman, recently retired, who was diagnosed with Cancer and started treatments last week. Chemo once a week and radiation every day.

Because of the way the schedule is set up we generally see the same people getting radiation treatment each day. This gentleman is one of them. He was doing great! Going golfing, taking long motorcycle rides and just living his life. Then came this morning. He looked terrible. He told us he had a really bad night. He's not eating, he's not sleeping. He's very fatigued.

In my infinite wisdom, I encouraged him to eat and told him that sleeping and eating are very important through the treatment and for the road to recovery.

What do I know? I'm no expert. I only know what I've read. I thought I needed to give him some kind of encouragement, advice, something.

As someone who is going through the same symptoms I have to wonder how much of it is the actual cancer and how much is the treatment itself.

What I did realize is that now I know why the team is made up of Oncology, Radiology, Nutritionist, MSW's and other therapists including Reiki and Massage.

The whole team is needed to deal with a Cancer diagnosis and it's treatment and while the physicians are responsible for administering treatment the others, on the team, are in every way as necessary to the treatment as the physicians.

I forgot to thank Jeanne for the toothpaste and the mouthwash yesterday. Thanks Jeanne.

Thanks Brian for mowing the lawn before you left for vacation.

I have to be in Nashua next week on business and our brother-in-law has offered to take Tom to his treatments. Thanks Chick.

Ted stopped to visit today. For those of you who don't know who he is he worked with Tom at the Morton building. Evidently Ted is reading the Blog. He asked if I was always into Organic stuff.

The reality is I used to always buy things like organic eggs and more recently organic shampoos. What prompted this latest obsession were a few things. First, I recently read an article linking ADHD and ADD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder) to processed foods and those foods laced with additional hormes. We have grandchildren with those disorders. Second, our grandaughter is very sensitive to many kinds of foods particularly wheat and milk products. Third, I thought with Tom's body receiving Chemo and radiation the last thing he needed was unnecessary chemicals derived from food.

One thing lead to another. The more I read, the more I'm convinced that organic is the way to go. That said, even with organic products one has to be careful. What I understand is that they should be certified organic products. Evidently, un-certified organic products may have some organic components but aren't completely organic.

I'm no expert. I'm still learning. What surprised me the most, in all of this research, is how much cheaper it is to make your own shampoo, body wash, and cleaners. I toyed with those things before but never made it a passion. Now that I have, I don't know why I didn't do it years ago.

As, with all of my posts, we thank you all so much for your well wishes, prayers, visits and reading the Blog. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.