However, all the doctors have said that the 7-10 days after my last treatment will be the worst of the entire treatment time because all treatments are cumulative. So far this is proving true. Muscle fatigue, esophagus discomfort, queasiness are all worse this weekend than any before. So far no cramping since my last chemo. Knock on wood.
Muscle fatigue is an effect of chemo therapy. Imagine a simple activity like picking up the newspaper off the driveway. On Saturday morning when I did this, my stomach muscles felt as if on Friday night I had put a fifty pound weight on the driveway and then reached down and picked it up fifty times. When I do anything physical, the fatigue feels like I exercised the involved muscles to exhaustion the night before.
All I think about is that around this coming Thursday I should start to turn the corner. The effects of chemo should start to wear off and I should start healing. Same for the effects of radiation.
Of course there is still esophagectomy surgery looming on the horizon. It is scheduled for September 11. It is a major, major surgery and I am expecting the recovery from surgery to make chemo and radiation seem like a walk in the park. One of my doctors gave me a link to a paper on Esophagectomy and Quality of Life, which gives a glimmer of optimism about life after surgery.
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