11 July

Ha!! I still have my hair!!!!!!

For all of you wondering if its gone yet? It is falling like the leaves of autumn but I have a lot of hair so it might take longer than they say :) Just 5 strands here and there, sometimes it looks like I've been holding our cat Charlie for too long :(

Anyway, its not long now until my next chemo on Wednesday. My Mum has arrived from Qld to help me out after Wednesdays session at the V. Its good to see her. The kids are loving having Nana around. Jana and Mum did some sewing on Friday while I went to work to make up some time and catch up before having next week off. John has been a great help taking days off here and there to help out.  He has been helping with the housework more too which is lightening the load.

I have finally felt good this last week, except for the very sore mouth. Mouth gargle all day and sucking sugar free lollies seem to be helping. Hopefully they will sort out my pre-meds this time to something that doesnt make me dizzy. I seem to have got my stomach under control only sometimes eating the wrong thing and being a bit sorry for it later. White wine tastes like vanilla - go figure. Red wine tastes very peppery even when its not but bubbles tastes like bubbles :) I have had the odd glass over the past week or so.

About 5 days after my first chemotherapy, I received a call from the hospital dietician. She said the magical words to me "you have so many things going on with your body that you just feel out of control and dont know where to start". Heeelllloooo - where have you been? Someone who understands what I'm feeling right now! Normally, you have 1 symptom in your body and you know what it is or what's caused it and you deal with it. But my side effects had everything going on and trying to address each one had me confused and a little anxious and losing appetite and weight. Finally, she gave me some tips with eating that has solved some of the side-effects but not all.

This chemotherapy will be round 2, only 2 more of this drug. Yay! This one causes hair loss so the sooner I finish it the faster my hair will start to grow back!

Some doctors just shouldn't be! My visit to the oncologist was unpleasant. My scheduled oncologist was delayed so a stand-in took my appointment. But I think I interrupted his coffee before his clinics were supposed to start!!! He was awful, condescending, belittling, and intolerant. When I described my side effects (which was the point of the appointment post first chemo) he told me that they aren't side effects, I need to learn to chill out and the cancer treatment "is what it is!!!" Then pushed me out the door with blood test requests that I didn't know what they are for! So rude! It made me very angry for not standing up for myself and putting up with his attitude. I'll make sure I re-schedule in future rather than see him again. I have been lucky so far with the doctors etc., so 1 bad apple is not too bad.

I visited my gym this week after canceling my membership. I told Pauline why and she was taken aback because I seemed well and I told her calmly without being upset. She expected me to be a blubbering mess. That's because I am pretending there's nothing wrong with me, I talk about the cancer as if it's somebody else's problem! It is still difficult to own it, or associate it with 'I' or 'me'.

Dread is starting to set in as the days get closer to my next dose. I am enjoying my well days more than ever but I know that it could be a lot worse and this is NOTHING compared to what other people go through!

 

I bought a nutrinfusion for juicing. I am now eating buckets of kale, radishes, chia seeds, Brussels sprouts etc in liquid form. It has been interesting what the final taste is - the juice combinations are quite yum. Hopefully, I can keep up my nutrition better with this on hand, easy and quick to to make and drink. Tried to hide some rocket in a strawberry milkshake for the kids this morning - it didn't pay. They figured it out - damn it, not enough strawberries!! Jana is very unforgiving and you only get one chance to trick her.

I've learned about foods that cause anti-angiogenesis, constriction of blood supply to cancer tumours. Interesting information - one of my drugs for chemo is an anti-angiogenesis type, there is a Dr William Li who is experimenting with high potency foods and the role they play in anti-angiogenesis for cancer tumours.  I saw a Ted Talk with him and it was very interesting. I notice the McCallum Cancer Institute is also doing some studies in this area. He has compiled a list of natural foods, and Japanese Green tea is one of the highest in potency, higher than my drug (in what quantities I dont know) but so is red wine and chocolate! ......Two of my favourite treats!!! I figure It's worth capitalizing on the opportunity to eat more of these foods in parallel with my chemotherapy :)

Green tea
Berries
Citrus
Apples
Pineapple
Cherries
Red grapes
Red wine
Kale 
Bok Choy 
Soybeans
Maitake mushrooms
Licorice
Turmeric
Nutmeg
Artichokes
Lavender
Pumpkin 
Tuna
Garlic
Tomatoes (cooked)
Olive oil
Grapeseed oil
Pomegranate
Dark chocolate 
Cheese (particularly Emmental, Gouda, and Jarlsberg)

For those who are interested in reading more:

http://www.eattobeat.org/pages/16/about.html