Day 18 of treatment.

And so it begins. The part about them telling us it would get worse before it gets better.

Tom has been having a lot of, what we thought was, acid indigestion. Evidently it's internal burning from the radiation. He was having a hard time swallowing and it's getting worse. He couldn't eat anything tonight and for those of you who have seen him he can't afford to lose any more weight.

With several more weeks of radiation it's anybody's guess how we'll fare.

We can see the beginning stages of him losing his hair. It doesn't seem to be coming out in clumps but it is starting to thin. That's the least of our worries. He had his head shaved a while ago because he didn't want all the hair going down the drain. It's typical of him to think about those things.

It's been very difficult leaving him to go to work this week. I'm not sure how other people do it. I know he's been in capable hands and for that I'm very grateful. It's still difficult. I worry about him not eating, that he needs something and can't or won't get it.

I think about what this disease has done to our family. It is truly emotionally taxing. I think about all the things friends and family are doing for us and how their daily routines are also affected.

On a brighter note, we continue eating organic foods and using recycled paper products. I continue to make my own shampoo which I bring to Nan (my sister) to try out for me. We're doing all we can to stay away from chemical products that not only hurt us but the environment. Actually, it feels pretty good. If I could find anything good to come from this it would be that we're more diligent in eating organic foods and using recycled non-chemical products. Better for us. Better for the environment.

After talking to my sister in law my next project will be to try to make my own soap, from scratch. Ok, maybe a bit overboard, but I think it would be great. Nan, be prepared to sample it.

The nice thing about having a sister try the stuff is that she'll tell me if it's really good or really bad.

Some would say this sort of thing brings people closer. I can't say that because Tom and I have a great relationship. I won't say this doesn't put somewhat of a strain on it because I'd be lying but the strain for him is that he feels miserable and longs to feel better. The strain for me is that he feels miserable and I want him to feel better.

Thanks for reading and thanks for being there!!