Author Archives: John Swinburn

Just twenty more radiation treatments to go. I’ve completed one third of them. The skin on my chest and back can attest to the fact that I’ve had treatments. It’s tender and, in a place or two, slightly inflamed as … Continue reading →

January 14, 2019 I didn’t realize until today that I never bothered posting yesterday’s “Cancer Journal.” No matter, it wasn’t particularly insightful. I’ll include it with today’s, just for the record. I woke late again today, thanks in large part … Continue reading →

Today might as well have been a fleeting idea, an ephemeral abstraction that never solidified into reality. Today is now lost to a fog, for me. I hope days like today are few and far between. Not only because they … Continue reading →

There’s evidence that the chemo may be ready to cause nausea. Yesterday, even before the seventh radiation treatment, I felt a tiny hint of nausea, enough that I decided to take the nausea pills with me to the session. I … Continue reading →

Yesterday’s sixth radiation treatment preceded a brief visit with the radiologist. The only discussion centered around the fact that I’ve been quite fatigued, off and on. His advice was to push it. Walk. More. A lot more. On the one … Continue reading →

Radiation treatment number five is now history, with only twenty-five of the scheduled thirty left. As I sat waiting to be called in for my treatment yesterday, a nurse wheeled in a very frail, old man to the waiting room. … Continue reading →

Yesterday, I had my fourth radiation treatment, which went without a hitch. I told the technicians about my conversations with the center staff (both chemo and radiation nurses) and they seemed to know nothing about the discussions. They seemed unfamiliar … Continue reading →

Yesterday’s treatment regimen began with radiation therapy at 10:30 a.m., my third session. As I waited to be called in for the session, a guy came into the waiting room and sat down near me. He introduced himself as Terry … Continue reading →

This morning, we drove through pea-soup fog and darkness to the radiation therapy center, arriving just about the time the clean-up crew arrived. I much prefer to be half an hour early than 5 minutes late. Right on time at … Continue reading →

This afternoon, my wife and I drove to the oncology clinic, where I was scheduled to have a blood draw. The moment I walked in, one of the staff members told me she had just spoken to a doctor’s office … Continue reading →

I noticed today that the pain in my back and chest seems to take on difference characteristics from time to time. I don’t know whether that has to do with time of day or amount of activity I’m involved in … Continue reading →

I think, for the first time since I got the diagnosis of lung cancer, the realization has finally hit me that I’m in a fight for my life. Maybe I’ve come to that realization before, but I’ve blocked it. Maybe … Continue reading →

For the last two days, I’ve felt better. My surgical pain, though decidedly still with me, has been tolerable. I’ve not taken any oxycodone for pain in quite a few days, but I’ve increased my gabapentin by about a third … Continue reading →