Over the Precipice!

As expected, during week 4 of radiation I moved from the potential 10% of people who escape symptoms in radiation to the 90% who do. On Tuesday afternoon, I went over the precipice as the diarrhea struck—not a gradual change but a sudden one. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights I was up every 2 to 2 ½ hours. Somewhat interestingly, during the day my system would settle down a bit until late afternoon or early evening, then resume the pattern. I swallowed a couple of Lomotil several times each (maximum of eight per day, mind you), with seeming little effect in stemming the tide. I did drink bounteous amounts of liquids and the energy drink, Recharge, keeping in mind my earlier episode of dehydration that landed me in the emergency room. I also managed to keep up my exercise routines, rowing Wednesday morning, yoga and a gym workout Thursday, and my 45 minute walk on Friday. I did, however, slip in a nap on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

During my Friday consultation with the nurse practitioner, my focus was on what I could do reverse my nighttime performances, or whether I would simply have to live like this the next three weeks (not a pretty prospect for either me or for Phil, who was a little disturbed by all the traffic during the night). She suggested immediately going on a BRAT diet—a VERY limited fiber diet (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) to see if we could give my system a break. If that were successful I could then slowly reintroduce other foods to see what I can tolerate without kicking myself over the edge again.

Would you know, it has worked! Since yesterday’s lunch, I have eaten (or drunk) just those foods, along with clear broth. And last night there was no diarrhea. What a relief! Somewhat to my surprise, the relief is so great that I’d be willing to eat this limited diet alone for the next couple weeks—if I can just get enough of it to fill me up. I plan to stay on this basic diet through the weekend, reintroducing first my vitamins and then my Chinese meds, which I also decided to go off. Then I’ll experiment with different foods to see what I can add. This also means I am able to reduce the amount of Lomotil I’m taking to a minimum.

We’ll have to see if I can maintain this as we add more radiation to my body next week. The effect of radiation is cumulative, which is why you experience worse symptoms as you near the end of treatment. So it could get tougher. I have nine sessions to go, plus I understand the symptoms will continue for another week or two after stopping treatment, as my irritated system works to repair itself.

A very interesting lesson in the power of diet!