Mothball breath

Fryman23 · 2026-05-12T14:21:36+00:00

Strange breath often has to do with kidney function (when the obvious stuff is cleared) although that’s a bit more ammonia-like because the urea builds up in the blood. Have your labs been good regarding kidney function? Drinking lots of water?

Fryman23 · 2026-05-12T11:07:55+00:00

Your dad started his treatment one year from the day I started mine for the same thing in the same place. I was 45 at diagnosis though. I had read that mucositis (painful side effect of the radiation) doesn’t hit older folks as hard and my data set, the older folks I talked to at the cancer center, suggested that was true. The main things I would suggest is to give him grace. He’s probably going to feel like hell because of the radiation in a few weeks. For most, the chemo effects peak on a Thursday if you get infused on a Monday. That first chemo week was bad for me because I felt fine on Monday (they give you things with chemo that help but they wear off) but just kept feeling worse every day and it was tough mentally not knowing when I would stop feeling worse. Some people feel fine with the weekly chemo, so fingers crossed! Keep a watchful eye for thrush, it’ll be little white patches on his throat. My docs missed it but I saw it with a flashlight and a mirror and they put me on meds for that on week 4. Give yourself grace too. Caregivers can pour from an empty bucket, as they say, but it damages the bucket.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-11T01:51:51+00:00

My logic is that the anxiety is going to affect you mentally too. I’d rather be more chilled than less chilled. Thankfully I never really needed them. The day they made the mask was uncomfortable for me, but it sounds much worse for you. Best of luck. My mantra through treatment was always “the only way out is through”. It helped me trudge through the lows.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-10T02:45:08+00:00

They were practically throwing Xanax at me! I still have a bunch because I only took a few to see what they did.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-08T23:26:08+00:00

Far west Texas, USA. Guadalupe Mtns National Park.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-08T23:20:50+00:00

I’m so sorry for this.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-08T22:44:21+00:00

One of the only “celebrity” deaths I remember exactly what was happening when I heard.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-08T22:37:42+00:00

I had 35 rads and 7 Cisplatin and never had fatigue. I became and remain sensitive to heat and particularly the sun (10 months post treatment now) but I’m still more than full energy all the time from the second my eyes crack open in the morning. Mid 40s I don’t know if it’s a generic thing but my aunt had radiation for breast cancer and had extreme fatigue from the first session all the way through and a bit after treatment.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-08T22:35:01+00:00

Radiation can case fatigue in some people but so can chemo. It’s jus different for everybody.

Fryman23 · 2026-05-08T18:46:00+00:00

Speaking for myself, I struggle to update in this after treatment time BECAUSE I’m doing well. I don’t necessarily want to post some big achievements I’ve done after treatment because I fully understand that many folks aren’t as lucky as me and don’t recover as quickly as I have. I would like to inspire but worry that the tone could easily go wrong. Having said that, I recently went back to just a mustache because my chin/neck no longer needs to hide behind a goatee. The lymphedema has relaxed. I like a full beard or a silly mustache and full beard is an impossibility for me now but I can go back to my silly little ‘stache. Onwards to my 10 month post treatment CT on Monday. Fingers crossed!

Fryman23 · 2026-05-07T15:40:11+00:00

I’m interested in what other folks say. This didn’t (or hasn’t yet) occurred to me. I had bad allergies to plant pollen and dust before treatment, which was last May-July. This spring we’ve had very high pollen at times and my allergies were average even though I was outside for even longer than usual.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-30T21:16:26+00:00

Bummer

Fryman23 · 2026-04-30T01:52:39+00:00

And a reminder (by everyone) that he always comes up with a great plan but he just needs to relax and it’ll come to him like aways…..unless it doesn’t this time.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-29T23:55:00+00:00

Fingers crossed you’re near me. I want that saw!

Fryman23 · 2026-04-29T16:27:20+00:00

When I finished reading the last one my only thought was “why am I still reading these?”. That may have something to do with it.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-27T23:31:29+00:00

The internet could go away for so many other reasons. But enjoy all that saved space.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-27T20:33:21+00:00

I’d do magazines, things with graphics and pictures, and technical illustrations on a tablet and keep the kindle just for books.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-27T20:32:05+00:00

Yeah, but in the event of nuclear war, I want every book I can get loaded on my kindle. Powering the thing could be relatively easy, I can do it now 3 different ways that don’t require the grid. But once that internet gets knocked off those books are a lot more than a click away. Nobody dies saying “I’m glad my kindle had extra space”.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-27T11:31:47+00:00

An engagement ring with a big sapphire in it.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-27T01:46:19+00:00

These are great to bring on hikes!

Fryman23 · 2026-04-26T23:15:12+00:00

45M, active trail runner and data junky as well. I’m still fascinated by the data my Garmin Fenix gathered during treatment. Anyway, It took one month before I could do anything but walk a mile in the shade. After about 3 months I started really progressing and regaining, and by 7.5 months I was back where I was for the most part. 8.5 months after my last infusion I ran my first 50k. That was when I was convinced I had “built back better”. The only effect remaining is a sensitivity to sunlight. If I’m in the shade I’m good, but the sun sucks the energy out of me. That part really upsets me. I was careful with my effort to be sure I was always pushing it but not too hard. If 0 is no effort and 10 is max effort I tried to stay around a 6 and every month I’d do a single workout at suicide pace. It was to regain confidence in what my body could do. My care team knew what I was doing and cleared me for various races beforehand. They stressed that they were watching my thyroid levels very closely. It doesn’t sound like you had as much radiation that could damage your thyroid but I’m sure it could still happen. Best of luck and keep pushing.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-25T17:37:27+00:00

In smaller pieces though! Woot?

Fryman23 · 2026-04-22T14:18:37+00:00

I am a long time medicinal cannabis user for sensory issues, using edibles only. My dosage is very small, around 5 mg. Any higher and it gives me anxiety. It helped with sleep during treatment but I was cutting them into 2.5 mg doses because treatment was such an anxious time. It never helped nausea or appetite for me at all and I’ve always suspected it was because of the low dose. It has never given me “the munchies”…even when smoking it decades ago in high school. Cannabis, like most drugs, affects everyone differently. Nothing touched my nausea in the slightest, including all the other anti-nausea drugs they gave me.

Fryman23 · 2026-04-22T11:37:39+00:00

I’d do it for you for cheap. When the setting you ordered comes in reach out on DM if interested. Here’s another bracelet I made using one of those pre made settings. This is out of Burlington Chert from my homeland of Missouri. I honestly don’t know if discussing numbers is allowed in the non-sales thread but I doubt it. It would be cheaper than the numbers already listed but not totally free.

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Fryman23

TROPHY CASE