Eleven radiation sessions down, four to go. We keep exercising as it helps us concentrate on getting strong rather than focusing on the side effects of the treatment. We are working very hard on our internal locus of control.

Our weekly posts have been focused on health matters for three months now. You are probably getting sick of these, and unfortunately there is more to come. Our blog is about our life afloat. It is boring at the moment, but that’s where we are at! We hope that some of you may find our story useful to better understand the emotional and physical rollercoaster experienced by anyone going through cancer treatment or supporting a person who is. Our openness has generated a lot of comments on this blog and privately. A few faithful friends and many cruising buddies have helped a lot too through regular calls or messages. If you take one thing away from our tale to date it is that ‘turning up’ in relationships, staying connected when things get rough is important. 

Radiation update

We are now further along the radiotherapy path, and it is getting hard. Once your body starts reacting to radiation, the redness, irritation, soreness and fatigue get worse after every session. You get a break from the daily zapping on the weekends. But the side effects do not stop and will not stop after session 15 either! The fire keeps smoldering. We are told that the peak of discomfort and fatigue is actually in the two weeks that follow the end of the treatment. You get worse before you get better. Then it is the slow path to healing and the start of hormone therapy which Chris may or may not do. More on this in a future post.

Staying active

The daily exercise routine is making a big difference. We have now been at Marina Mirage for a month and since then we have been going to exercise classes every morning for several hours. Everything hurts, but it is a good kind of hurt. It is one of the positive actions we have taken to give ourselves a chance to get stronger, more flexible, despite the cancer treatment. It is worthwhile for both of us. This is another takeaway from our story: exercise helps you physically and mentally particularly when going through tough times.

It is also something which is within our control and passes the time before radiation. Even if we might not be able to do the number of reps or the strong stretches as well as the trainers would like, we are moving and focused on the here and now. The rest of our day is driven by the medical appointments. Radio just before noon, appointments with the nurse, radiologist, occupational therapist, or GP, then return to Anui and depending on how we feel, off for a walk somewhere, a body surf for Wade or off to bed for Chris!

This week the afternoon walks have been non existent. When waves of fatigue hit, you can do nothing but give in to them and crash for a couple of hours. Never has Chris experienced anything like this before. The wave swamp you, the energy is drained out of you and you collapse on the spot. It is unbelievable.

Bengie quite likes our lying around in the saloon… a good time for extra-long cuddles!

Another medical issue

As if we did not have enough to deal with, another thing got added to the medical list: dealing with a cyst at the back of Chris’s neck which went from a harmless pea size lump to something objectionable the size of a large marble in two months. Oh my God said Wade, you’re growing a horn – either that or you have an alien in there! The lump was just unsightly. An ultrasound confirmed the cyst was benign. But our GP at Sovereign Medical Centre was reluctant to do anything particularly during radiotherapy. But then in the last fortnight the cyst got huge and angry looking, not something you want to leave there for it to implode and send the infection in your blood! “I have an alien living in there. Take this out please.”

By the time our Doc took action, it was well and truly infected and threatening to burst. Last Saturday, he took the initial measure of lancing and draining the cyst, packing it with a gauze moist with betadine to allow the infection to subside, and he prescribed strong antibiotics. The actual removal of the cyst capsule was done a few days later once the infection was gone. Wade was in charge of shaving around the site near the hairline… a very scary thing! Don’t take too much, Chris said, and Wade’s answer: I am doing what the Doc instructed!

The op was quite a big job for our GP but he managed to dissect the cyst capsule without tearing it open. You could feel his relief as he was sewing up the wound! Chris is now walking around with eight stitches and a big bandage around her neck – a better outcome than getting a blood infection, but it hurts a lot. Nurse Wade was allowed in the procedure room and managed to watch the action without passing out and in fact took quite a number of photos. Here are the least gross:

It goes without saying that this bashing does not help when you are already battered.

Let’s change the subject – back to nature!

We have a regular visitor to our boat, generally at night, when he gets under the front tarp, screeches and wakes us up, but often hangs around just next to Anui in the morning. He is a Nankeen Night Heron. His call resembles a hoarse bark – or an angry chook according to Wade.

With a lot of rain during this last week, the tracks in the rainforest were rather muddy. We went up to Mt Tamborine during the weekend and had a few slip and slide attacks and close shaves, nearly ending up on our bottom in the gooey mud a few times. So this week we decided the beach would be safer. Wade has had a couple of body surfs too.

We have a mix of images from our small outings.

Stay well and stay safe. This coming week do a positive thing that lifts your mood and tell us about it. You might give us some ideas! See you next Friday!