POST RADIATION

9 March	Today Mary started out with nausea and was given something for the nausea. That knocked her out for the morning. She finally started waking up after I arrived during the afternoon. I helped her as I could with arm and leg movement, but she tired very easily. She ate her soup that evening, but did not eat much. It seems that even eating causes pain. I don't know, but it would appear that the pain that she feels is related to the shingles/rash and the new skin that is forming.
10 March	Day two of post radiation. Mary was in less pain, but it was severe at times. She had a limited therapy session since it was Saturday. She still has difficulty swallowing and did not eat that much. Her spirits were upbeat and she was awake all day. Monica fixed her hair after her shower. I look forward to more days like this when therapy is there to help her. Hopefully her throat will soon heal and she will be able to eat normal food.
11 March	A lot of mixed feelings today. Mary had times with much pain (possibly shingles related) and also pain related with her arms especially her shoulders. It would appear that two night nurses moved her by the arms and dislocated something. X rays were done but have not shown anything. At times she was relatively pain free even without medicine. Mary has tried to eat , but between the throat pain and the menu, she is still not eating a lot, but she is eating a little. Mentally Mary is reasoning well and is alert and ready to work on therapy..
12 March	Mary did not feel well this morning, but did her therapy. The therapist said she is showing slow progress, but is not able to support her own weight yet. After I arrived the head of nursing came in with the head of therapy and looked at the area of Mary's back which is showing a skin thinning. She felt the problem was related to radiation and will bring in something to dry it out and accelerate healing. Mary fell asleep shortly thereafter and woke at 8:30 when they brought her medicine, she then ate a little of her dinner and went back to sleep after her soap was over. She's lost track of what was happening.
13 March	We went to see the thoracic surgeon today and he removed most of the stitches and took an x-ray of Mary's back. He said everything was fine and set up an appointment for six weeks. He felt that the raw area on Mary's back were like 2nd degree (radiation) burns and was going to call the oncologist to get him to recommend something to treat the areas. The facility is also setting up an appointment with a dermatologist. In the afternoon, the facility doctor dropped by and told Mary that the main problem looked like lack of protein and that she had to eat more (protein). At that point I left and bought some soy yogurt, some beef jerky and some nuts. Mary didn't like th4e jerky, but ate the yogurt. She also ate two nuts. At dinnertime, she ate more of her meat (pureed), but not all of it. Tomorrow I'm going to take in some soy powder that Gooby had bought her.
14 March	Mary ate better today although Sandra went out to get her something extra for lunch. The dinner didn't have much protein, and I complained. Mary did eat an Ensure pudding for dinner and 1/4 of a grilled cheese sandwich. It was a terrible meal. I almost went out to buy something. I bought something called Bordeaux Butt Paste and put it on an area of Mary's back and she liked the feel of it. It seems to dry/seal the skin also. I will look at the area tomorrow and compare it to an un treated area. As long as it soothes Mary's pain and causes no problems, it will be worth while.