I figured it was time for an update since everyone has been messaging me asking what the doctors have said. First, I want to apologize on Amanda’s behalf, that she didn’t post an update. She’s been very busy with going to school full time, working full time, taking me back and forth to Roanoke, and everything else. We’ve just been so overwhelmed with everything going on, it’s been hard to update everything. I am still writing thank you cards for Christmas! Also, on Wednesday before last, Amanda’s grandfather Herman Woody passed away of pulmonary fibrosis. It was very sad, and we were very busy with the wake, and the funeral. To the people who view my blog who came to the wake and funeral, thank you all. If you were there, you know how big it was. I have never in my life seen something so big.But, thank you.
Friday before last, we went to see Dr. Shertz for my normal checkup. He checked me out, and took blood work. He didn’t call me regarding my blood work results, so I am assuming everything is still good. He only calls if something is wrong. He didn’t schedule me for another CT on this visit, as he will do that on my next visit. He also cut back my visits to him from every 3 weeks, to every 6 weeks. I go back to see him at the end of March. I guess that’s a good thing. I just am scared and want another CT like, right now just to ease my mind since I’ve been through so much. He’s the expert in all of this though.
I did visit with Dr. Buck, my radiologist on Wednesday. He examined my head, and said everything looked good. He was very surprised my hair hadn’t fallen out yet. We all were, actually. My last day of radiation is Tuesday. He wants to see me again at the end of March as well, for an MRI of my brain to make sure everything is good. He doesn’t want to do it right yet because radiation causes inflammation of the brain. He wants to let it get back down to normal.
The radiation side effects have started. I have headaches a lot now, which is expected. I just take medicine and try to live through it. As I stated in the previous paragraph, everyone was shocked my hair had not fallen out due to the radiation. Well, Saturday morning, Amanda pointed out that my hair had fallen out a little in a certain place. When I took a shower and ran my hands through my hair, I had a lot of hair on them. I didn’t think much of it, since I was due for a haircut that same day. Well, her dad picked me and Kobie up to take us to see Missi and get our hair cut. Missi did a great job on it too. When I got home, I took a shower to 
wash the hair out of my head. When I got out, I looked in the mirror and had a huge bald spot in my head that had not been there prior to my shower. It was very depressing. I shaved just around the area, to keep from making a mess with my hair. I also noticed it’s a bit burned in that area from the radiation. I am hoping that the last 2 treatments don’t effect it any. Sorry the picture is so blurry, I took it myself looking into a mirror, without a flash. You can get the idea though. I guess I’ll be wearing my hat everywhere now. I am hoping when I go back to work, they will let me wear a hat for a little while. We’ll see.
If you’re wondering about my radiation, it’s an IMRT X-Ray radiation, which is basically a gamma radiation that is produced from a different molecule. It doesn’t hurt when I am getting it, but the side effects are 
obviously loss of hair, headaches, and fatigue. It also causes memory loss, and disorientation which isn’t good because that’s also a side effect of my Dilantin medication. I just don’t feel right and if you talk to me, you’d probably think I was drunk because I say things that don’t make sense, and I forget things in the middle of a sentence. I am posting a picture of my radiation table so you can get an idea of what I lay on for 15 minutes every day.
As far as changed on the blog page, I’ve totally changed the Photo Gallery page. I also added a lot of photos to this page. I’ll be adding more as time progresses. Also, I try to keep the For Your Thoughts page as updated as I can. If you know someone you would like to be added to the electronic prayer list, let me know. If you know of anything you think would be a good addition to the website please let me know, as I am trying to grow it as much as possible. This is not only a diary for me and my family to look back on in years to see what all we went through, it’s also a resource for anyone who has been recently diagnosed with cancer and needs resources. When I started this blog site, there was only a few people signed up for it, and it only had a few people who actually read it on a regular basis. I cannot believe how much it’s grown. For the month of February alone, my blog had 10,568 views. That’s a lot! In 2008, it had over 100,000 hits! Thank you to everyone who has visited, and kept track of me. It means a lot.
Finally, I normally don’t post about non-medical related stuff much on my blog, but I wanted to say that this has been a very good weekend for me, other than my burnt bald spot. For the first time in about 4 years in Rocky Mount, it’s actually snowing! It’s snowed some in Roanoke in the recent years past but south side is always neglected. Finally we get some! They are calling for 6-10″ but we’ll see what actually comes. Tomorrow Kobie is going to get to build a snowman, have a snowball fight, and go sledding. He’s so excited. Franklin County schools are already closed. Yesterday, UNC beat the snot out of Georgia Tech and it was great. I also got a 3 hour nap today. What more could a man ask for? :)I hope everyone has a great week, and we’ll post more as it becomes available.
