The first two days of treatment - and the World Series begins!

Ed’s first day of treatment is past, hooray! This morning we talked, and he is chipper and full of energy. He slept about 9 hours last night (in chunks). The nausea he had yesterday is gone now. He says he is going to revise his breakfast order to add more food.

Here is what he wrote this morning about day one. Bear in mind that he has one of his baseball jerseys with him in the hospital.

Hello Friends,

Ed = 1 and "c" = 0 after the first day of treatment.

Yes, that is the happy line score with Ed taking an early lead in this ballgame. My good buddy Bret inspired the idea of a line score and insisted that cancer be identified with a little "c", not big "C".. You got it Bret.
No doubt wearing Pilla's lovingly knitted Recovery Socks worked well. As I am more than inclined to baseball superstition, you can be sure I will wear my Recovery Socks everyday.
My chemo plan is such that the first day is the hardest as it included a massive dose of Cisplatin, a nasty chemical to esophagus cancer that messes with the cells' DNA. After 4 hours of Cisplatin, I am now getting a chemical called 5-FU (Fluorouracil), that interferes with an enzyme that the cancer cells need to live and grow. The Cisplatin did cause me a couple of light rounds of throwing up, but that ended soon after I was off of it and on to 5-FU.
I also had the first of 25 planned radiation treatments yesterday. The hospital has state of the art equipment. It is Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with a machine that has collimated beams of radiation, each able to vary in dosage and angle of presentation. This allows the strength of radiation to be matched to the extent and thickness of each tumor. I get radiation from five angles: front, two each at slightly different angles from the left and right back sides. Each of the five radiation exposures is brief, about 10 to 15 seconds, but high intensity.
I feel great this morning. You know how wonderful normal can feel after a bit of sickness. Well I do feel wonderful and mentally ready to follow through with the entire treatment plan. After day one, I have a very concrete understanding of treatment and I am more than ready, I am excited about the prospects and optimistic about the outcome. Pilla and I are both very optimistic about the decision to use the most aggressive treatment approach possible.
Pilla was at the hospital with me all of day one. Her presence made ALL the difference for me. True love is very, very powerful stuff!!
Our positive attitude and hearts are truly lifted by our many supporting friends and family. The many positive messages, encouragement, and love that have come our way from you is deeply appreciated and touching for Pilla and me. Thanks for being such fantastic caring friends. Suddenly I am viewing the computer screen through moist eyes. Good thing I am still in the on deck circle for my second radiation treatment. I will be clear eyed for that, as I wish to add to my line score lead.
Pilla and I thank you each again for your tremendously generous showing of support and love for us. I have a big smile on my face now and I ask each of you to - -
Keep Smiling.

Ed
 
Ed has a new goal today. He wants to be able to burp "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Is the world ready for this?
Oookay, I found a YouTube video of two girls doing it.