Radiation Days by Lynn Hoffman

Author:Lynn Hoffman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Restoration Software

Treating cancer with radiation therapy and chemotherapy is a bit like treating the dog for fleas by setting him on fire. You may very well get rid of the bugs, but when the flames die down, you’re going to have a severely damaged dog on your hands.

Assuming that they really did get all my cancer, the pup they left behind is—by most common measures—in pretty bad shape. I’ve lost about forty-five pounds of body weight, and I look skeletal. I can’t really chew, and it’s hard to swallow anything but bland, milky liquids. Most foods just turn into clay in my mouth, and a lot of liquids hurt. Old friends like wine and beer are painful, tea gives a hurtful dryness, and fruit juice burns.

Being undernourished means that I’m also weak. A trip to the gym shows a strength loss of about 50 percent in most muscle groups.

I still have a lot of pain in my throat and neck, so I’m still a regular user of painkillers, which, aside from promoting ten to twelve hours of sleep a day, have a host of other charming side effects. I’ll spare you the details, except to say that one of them rhymes with “inspiration.” I don’t have much energy, and while I might be fending off depression, a serious case of the glooms could happen any time.

So, it’s time to make a plan, develop my own Restoration Software.

This week I’m consulting with all my doctors and with some new therapists. There’s one for speech and even one who specializes in teaching you how to swallow. Yes, I’ll be doing swallowing exercises. I’m also heading back to the gym on a five-day-a-week schedule and reducing my painkillers. I don’t know what I can do about my lousy eating habits—I can’t really chew and swallow anything that needs serious chewing—except for setting a goal of 2,000 calories a day and seeing how much Ensure one man can gulp down.

I’m glad I have my new teaching assignment; it’s given me a stack of reading and a ton of thinking to do. I have some lectures to write, and there are two novels that could use some attention—maybe that will be enough to beat back depression. Even though there’s some danger of a backfire, I want to take on a self-education project and become a bit more web-competent.

Anyway, that’s my Restoration Software. I’ll keep you posted on the output.

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