The nurse called both Friday and this morning to check on Karen. By the weekend things had finally settled back down to the point where Karen felt she should be taking laxatives again, but it turned out to be a little too soon. Nonetheless, by Monday she did feel things were where they should be. This turned out not to be good enough for our radiation oncologist, who canceled the remaining treatments. He must have been expecting a faster recovery. We were both disappointed this was the end of the radiation treatment.
It feels like we almost never get to finish anything we start. At Mayo, we've seen - actually heard - a lot of patients having a little party/song put on by the staff when they finish a long series of treatments. It's not a food and presents kind of thing, but it is a celebration. I doubt it would have meant much to Karen or me, but not having such a celebration weighs on me. Every time I hear it happening off in the distance it makes me think of all the things we've had canceled early. This includes Karen's first series of chemo treatments, the short run with Xeloda, the clinical trials, and now the radiation. Of course it's good there's always someone watching out for Karen and stopping things when the costs outweigh the benefits, but it still feels disappointing when it happens unexpectedly.
