20%

A new development: what opportunistic, chemo-resistant, bastard cancer still left hanging on (in the original sites, lymph nodes at the base of my neck on either side) is trying its damnedest to grow. The nodes themselves are swelling, which causes extreme pain, and has brought back the passing fevers and emptying sweats I suffered from in the beginning.

My doctors gave me prednisone, a steroid, to fight the inflammation, and it worked wonders. Then they stopped. They say the radiation itself will clear this problem up, especially now that I've started going every day. And while I am managing those daily visits like a non-barfy champ, they've offered me no relief from the extreme pain I am in except more and more oxycodone, and time.

What I hate most is narrating medical developments. There aren't supposed to BE any more developments. Just 5 minutes a day, zap under the mask, and all this madness ends. I'm zonked on painkillers and still in pain. I'm not eating or sleeping well when I'm supposed to be on the mend.

Why won't this shit just end already?