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Part 6

There’s no sense pretending that the 2nd half of my 25 radiation treatments were as easy as the first half. My nose got redder and redder and itched and I applied gobs of aloe on it.

Later I was prescribed some stuff for more severe burning. I applied it and it smelled familiar. Looking at the ingredients, sure enough it was made with sesame oil. I smelled every day like dim sum.

The more annoying aspect was that inside my nose everything dried and clogged up. My oncologist had warned me of the drying effect of the radiation. I sprayed lots of saline solution up there and took plenty of hot showers to soften it up and tried to blow.

But let’s face it, in the end, a red and dried up nose was far easier that what most patients on the Radiation Unit at Chong Hua Hospital were experiencing.

The one surprise to the Philippines doctors and technicians was the nose color. I had been told that near the end my nose would get very dark or brown in color. Janet expressed skepticism “He doesn’t tan. He only gets red.” And sure enough she knew more about her husband than the docs. Only red – no brown.

The last 6 treatments were the toughest. We were sick of the process. There was nothing more to get excited about in Cebu City, other than getting the hell out. The last 3 were like a countdown where I let everyone know, “3 more…2 more…1 more. Graduation!”

Janet and I debated a lot about what to do for the staff on Graduation Day. They had all been so great to us that I wanted to do something: buy lunch, snacks or some token of my appreciation. In the end I went the healthy route and brought a couple dozen Krispy Kremes. The 2 dozen set included a couple of gift donuts that Janet and I consumed. Boy I had forgotten how good fresh, not day or many days old old donuts (like we get in Duma) taste.

I was told that after the final treatment I would meet with my oncologist. Over the last few days I had gotten nervous about this. Based on what little I knew I assumed she would order another CT scan down the road; would that be the last one or would more be needed till I was good to go. Would I have to come back to Cebu City or could I do it in Dumaguete? And what else would I need to prove the monster had gone? I didn’t sleep well the last night and made out a list of questions, as is my nature.

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The doctor handed me two copies of the final radiation report: one for me and one for my dermatologist. She also said that based on the CT scan I should visit a cardiologist since the scan showed an enlarged heart. She got up and started to say goodbye.

“What? What else? I need another CT scan down the line, right?”

“No.”

“i don’t understand. I mean if you say I don’t need it – great. But don’t I need further checking?”

“There was no lymph node involvement; so you’re fine. Visit your dermatologist regularly because you are at future risk. And see a cardiologist. But other than that you’re good to go.”

I broke down for a minute and Janet hugged me. We bid our goodbyes and I told the doctor how much I appreciated everyone on the unit, how great they had all been to me, and how much I would recommend Chong Hua to anyone in the future. And I will!

We went back to our condo and finished packing and under the category of there is always one more glitch, waited patiently for the swab tests results to be emailed to us. We needed them to return to Negros. They didn’t come that day and the next morning when we woke up they were not there either. Finally after breakfast one more time we returned to the hospital. The results were there and they printed them out and then we rushed back to the condo, loaded the car and now 2 hours past our planned departure, finally got the hell out of Dodge. BTW, we never got the emails.

Many hours later on the ferry for home, Janet was happy and I tried to be happy to return. Of course I was happy to go home and happy that this chapter of my life was ending. But still I couldn’t feel completely good about it.

Last night I had a terrible night. With the aircon on as usual I woke up freezing to death. Janet tried to warm me. Not long after I was hot as hell and turned the aircon back. I went through another round of cold and hot, then got up for awhile. Eventually I went back to sleep and slept normally.

For the first 68 years of my life I was in great health and took it casually. A headache was a headache – pop a Tylenol. Now if I get a headache I think, ‘the cancer’s spread – I have a brain tumor.’ If my neck is sore I think. ‘lymph node spread.’

Is this the “new normal” to use that horrible term or will I return to where I was; or be somewhere in the middle? I don’t know but I was home and this morning took my normal walk in our yard and pulled out my guitar and played and prepared to be around for awhile (hopefully a long while) longer.