Thursday, September 12, 2013

Home stretch

Only 3 more days of radiation and we are getting excited. Jeff's head and ears have been really taking a beating from the radiation. His head has been super itchy and he is sporting burns and open wounds behind his ears. Creams have been helping with the itching a bit but its just something Jeff will have to deal with until the radiation is done and his skin will finally get a chance to heal itself. It will be all about the healing for the next couple of months. On tuesday, we were told a scan of Jeffs brain, to determine the results of radiation, wont be done until the middle or end of october (unlike this week like I originally thought). The radiation causes a large amount of swelling and if they scanned his brain now, it would be hard to determine what is swelling and what is tumour. I was completely mistaken when I saw an appointment scheduled for him on Tuesday, I assumed it was a scan (silly me). After the  scan in October, it will take a few weeks for the radiologist to write his report so we will be meeting again with the doctor sometime in November. The doctor did say things are looking good and Jeff is tolerating treatment quite well. His wounds and burns are minimal compared to what some people experience. He is just about done and we can not wait for his brain to start healing!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Half way

Jeff and I were getting hopefully that he wouldn't lose any of his hair, since he was already 2 weeks in and didn't show any signs of hair loss. On Tuesday morning however, Jeff woke up to a pillow full of hair. I ran my hand through his hair and I had a hand full. We decided it was best to shave it. Most of the day I walked around a little sick that Jeff had to deal with having no hair and he kept saying how little it bothered him. I guess it's coming from two different perspectives.
 
This is Jeff after we shaved him. Since shaving him, I noticed his scalp was red and flaky but it was nothing a little coconut oil didn't fix. They say it could take 3-6 months for his hair to come back and in some people it never comes back. 
Jeff has officially completed while brain radiation and today was the first day of the boost where they target specific areas with a more concentrated amount of radiation. He has passed the half way mark and only has 8 more days of radiation.