The month of January has passed by quickly. I have topics which I would like to discuss but my energy and enthusiasm levels have been low. The December holidays were not a totally happy time, and consequently my spirits have been low. When my spirits are low, I am less inclined to share my thoughts and comments.
Two weeks ago I started Taxol. So far, Taxol is much easier to withstand than the A/C. Nausea no longer haunts for me days at a time. My physical energy levels are higher. Before I receive the Taxol, due to concerns regarding an allergic-reaction I receive Benadryl intravenously. Whoa! Makes me stupid and sleepy very quickly.
I am also in the process of losing more hair. I found a pile of eyelashes on my laptop. My eyebrows are also due to fall out. I am not looking forward to drawing on my eyebrows. Women who draw them on always look really creepy to me. I have thing about eyebrows, and have for a while. When I lived in Chicago, and rode the bus to work, I would often spy on people's eyebrows. I don't know why. I guess I found eyebrows to be fascinating -- how some people pluck and pluck, and others are keep their's long and shaggy. My plan was to purchase some fake glasses to hide my ever decreasing eyebrows but I haven't yet found any. Maybe I'll see if I can find some cheap glasses at Target over the weekend.
30 January 2009
08 January 2009
Last Dance with the Red Devil
Yesterday I had my last A/C chemo round. Phew!! Let's hope the recovery time for this round doesn't take as long as the session that I had right before Christmas.
I had nicknamed the Adriamycin the red menace, but I have since learned the nurses at my oncologist's office have already nicknamed it the red devil. Either works for me.
In two weeks, I'll begin my 12 weeks of Taxol.
I had nicknamed the Adriamycin the red menace, but I have since learned the nurses at my oncologist's office have already nicknamed it the red devil. Either works for me.
In two weeks, I'll begin my 12 weeks of Taxol.
01 January 2009
29 December 2008
Bubbles!
One of my favorite forms of relaxation is sitting in a hot bath, usually with bubbles, reading a magazine or trashy novel. According to my oncologist's office, bubble baths may cause urinary tract infections (UTI) in chemo patients. As I understand it, the UTI is caused by the chemicals in the commercially produced bubble baths. The thought of getting a UTI while on chemo made me fearful, so I was sad at the thought of 5 months with no relaxing bubble baths.
For Christmas, Brandon made me homemade lavender bath bombs with all natural ingredients. He found the recipe online from Instructables.com. I believe most of the ingredients were found at a local health food store. He has two additional tips for anyone who wants to makes some bombs:
TIPS:
1) Measure dry ingredients by weight, not volume
2) Plan to triple the amount of wet ingredients called for. You might not use the whole mix, but you'll certainly need to use more than the recipe calls for.
I highly recommend these homemade bath bombs. The bath smelled great and the oils made my skin very soft. Once again, I can enjoy leisurely baths through the long winter nights.
For Christmas, Brandon made me homemade lavender bath bombs with all natural ingredients. He found the recipe online from Instructables.com. I believe most of the ingredients were found at a local health food store. He has two additional tips for anyone who wants to makes some bombs:
TIPS:
1) Measure dry ingredients by weight, not volume
2) Plan to triple the amount of wet ingredients called for. You might not use the whole mix, but you'll certainly need to use more than the recipe calls for.
I highly recommend these homemade bath bombs. The bath smelled great and the oils made my skin very soft. Once again, I can enjoy leisurely baths through the long winter nights.
27 December 2008
The Third Day of Christmas
Happy Holidays (whatever that holiday may be) to everyone!
So I am surviving the my latest round of A/C chemo. My appetite has not been good. I've been feeling more nauseous than usual (but no vomit yet!). And the exhaustion, aches, and pains are not going away.
Brandon and I chose to not travel for our holidays this year. The reason for this season was chemo. Holiday travel can be very stressful, and my body shouldn't be overly taxed. As it turns out, I had chemo scheduled for 2 days before Christmas so we couldn't reasonably plan to travel anywhere. We celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple with a tree, our cats, and a delicious meal at the local Chinese (non-buffet) restaurant. I ate a double serving of wonton soup, a couple of steamed dumplings, and a bite or two of crab rangoon. Brandon ordered beef in brown sauce, without vegetables but as per usual at this restaurant, the order was confused and the beef arrived with mounds of delicious looking broccoli. So now the broccoli leftovers await me in the refrigerator.
I love broccoli. Naively, I thought my love of broccoli would keep me safe from ever getting cancer. A quick Google search proves that I am not crazy, and broccoli is considered a cancer-fighting-healer vegetable, see here. So my love of broccoli now confuses me. I'm not sure how to take this next step in our relationship. How can I trust broccoli again? Sure it is still delicious and can be prepared in a variety of salads, soups, pastas, casseroles, etc..., but I counted on broccoli to protect me from a horrible disease, and broccoli failed me. So what is the moral of this tale? Don't count on food to stop cancer.
So I am surviving the my latest round of A/C chemo. My appetite has not been good. I've been feeling more nauseous than usual (but no vomit yet!). And the exhaustion, aches, and pains are not going away.
Brandon and I chose to not travel for our holidays this year. The reason for this season was chemo. Holiday travel can be very stressful, and my body shouldn't be overly taxed. As it turns out, I had chemo scheduled for 2 days before Christmas so we couldn't reasonably plan to travel anywhere. We celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple with a tree, our cats, and a delicious meal at the local Chinese (non-buffet) restaurant. I ate a double serving of wonton soup, a couple of steamed dumplings, and a bite or two of crab rangoon. Brandon ordered beef in brown sauce, without vegetables but as per usual at this restaurant, the order was confused and the beef arrived with mounds of delicious looking broccoli. So now the broccoli leftovers await me in the refrigerator.
I love broccoli. Naively, I thought my love of broccoli would keep me safe from ever getting cancer. A quick Google search proves that I am not crazy, and broccoli is considered a cancer-fighting-healer vegetable, see here. So my love of broccoli now confuses me. I'm not sure how to take this next step in our relationship. How can I trust broccoli again? Sure it is still delicious and can be prepared in a variety of salads, soups, pastas, casseroles, etc..., but I counted on broccoli to protect me from a horrible disease, and broccoli failed me. So what is the moral of this tale? Don't count on food to stop cancer.
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