Happy Birthday to me


March 22, 2010: I am done. Finally, I am done. My birthday was yesterday. Happy 22nd Birthday to me! Not exactly how I imagined my birthday, but at least I am alive to celebrate many more birthdays.
 I spent my birthday in bed. My parents let me come home after my last treatment and just sleep the entire day. They are still on my case about eating, or should I say drinking my meals.  I still don’t really have an appetite, and my ability to taste hasn’t come back. I still have the sores in my mouth, so I’m eating liquids for now. I’m still on the weight gain shakes. These are ridiculously unhealthy I think. You mix the powder with 8 ounces of whole milk; total number of calories in one 8 ounce glass is 600. I’m supposed to be having at least 3 of these shakes a day if I want to maintain my weight. They would like me to gain weight. Haha, I have never been told to gain weight in my entire life. Never thought I’d hear that!

My ability to talk is still kind of limited given that the sores make it painful, but I don’t think I will need them much longer. We’ll see. Every week I was asked to rate my pain on a scale of 1 to 10; the first week my pain was a 0 and then it gradually went up, but only made it to an 8.  I only started taking pain medications during week 3 and was on the lowest dose possible. My radiation oncologist told me I was either lying or I have an extremely high pain tolerance.  By week 6 I was on a higher dose and on the pain patches, but the doctor said most people take much more by this point. In other words, the doses I am taking are fairly low considering the kind of pain I should be in. Guess I’m grateful for that.

I have acquired radiation burns to the skin on my neck and part of my face. My skin is constantly peeling and it looks kind of gross. I have been putting lotion on it and hopefully it will heal up soon. The burns aren’t that bad, in fact, they could be much worse. I researched radiation burns so I would know what to expect. They can become weepy and ooze. I will take the peeling skin.

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