3 Radiation treatments to go..

And then the body will get 2 and half weeks to recover from the effects of daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy treatments, before beginning the first cycle of 5 day chemotherapy treatment. I eagerly and impatiently await this "rest period".

My neck now requires dressing daily and it's a 25 minute process twice a day. It's immensely important this is done correctly to avoid any infections. I start by donning a pair of medical rubber gloves, after all, you have to look the part don't you? We then open a basic dressing pack containing a sterile field tray, 3 forceps, towel with 6 swabs and begin by cleaning the severely burnt areas using sodium chloride solution from tubes emptied into the tray. A gel called Intrasite is applied over the burnt areas which assists the skin's healing process and stops the affected areas from further weeping.  Next a soft paraffin gauze dressing called Jelonet is applied over the gel to soothe / protect the wound plus allow free passage  of exudate. To finish, sheets of Interpose-lite which is a non-adherent absorbent dressing are placed over the gauze, then the entire neck is wrapped with crepe bandage to hold everything in place. Does all this feel uncomfortable? I can easily answer that question with a powerful, one word response.  YES!

Due to the blog being an account of this journey,  and knowing that there are people out there that are / will travel the same path as me, I will be adding pictures of my affected neck and rash areas soon but these will only show if you click on their weblink.

Oh, and a COLOSSAL thank you for the emails, messages, letters, cards, gifts, phone calls, visits and help. The loving support of family, friends, colleagues, means so much to my family and I, and goes a long way to help me "keep my chin up" through this battle.  Thank you.