New development: blood clots in right arm, probably from the port. Starts just below clavicle, extends into armpit and down inner arm to elbow. Arm and hand mostly purple. Limited use of hand, including typing! ARGH! So, now also taking a blood thinner called Lovenox, given by shot into the belly daily for next 6 months – you guessed it! – [...]
Archive for September, 2009
Blood Clots
Posted in Journal Entries, tagged Ayurveda, blood clot, Kitchari, Lovenox, neuropathy, self-administered shots on September 24, 2009 | 11 Comments »
Saturday
Posted in Journal Entries, tagged lower dosage, Oxaliplatin, radiation treatment, Xeloda on September 19, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Saturday. No treatment for two days - thank goodness. I’ve been wanting to post a quick update for a few days, but it’s definitely getting harder and harder to do anything now. I spend much of the time either lying half-conscious in bed or struggling through another episode in the bathroom. I’ve managed to eat at more-or-less [...]
Mary Jane
Posted in Journal Entries on September 15, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Okay. From the very beginning of treatment several people have asked me if I knew Mary Jane. I did meet her back in High School, but I didn’t really like her. I felt like she hung out with a dopey crowd. I saw her again a couple of times in college, but we just never became [...]
Rough Patch
Posted in Journal Entries, tagged managing pain, vomiting, Zofran on September 12, 2009 | 10 Comments »
A short update is probably all I can manage today. Since Wednesday I just have not had the strength to do more than a few minutes at the computer each day. This week’s chemo treatment really took a toll on me. I wasn’t home from the Cancer Center very long before I began vomiting. The “pre-meds” I’m given just before the chemo include [...]
Half-way Day
Posted in Journal Entries, tagged knitting, pain, socks on September 9, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Today will mark the half-way point through treatment. It’ll be the 15th of 30 radiation treatments, and my 4th long chemo day. Because of the holiday weekend, I had three days off from treatment just when I really needed it. Last week the unpleasant side effects were starting to build, so it helped to get that extra day off to “bounce [...]
Dear Aunt Carol
Posted in Journal Entries, tagged Aunts, inspiring books, rowboat, strong women on September 5, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Every day there are more things to be grateful for, and more people who I want to give an extra special thank you to. Today, though, I really want to express my love and gratitude to my beautiful Aunt Carol. Dear Carol: I don’t know how you do it. You’ve got an amazing, uncanny [...]
The First Complications
Posted in Journal Entries, tagged diarrhea, fever, nausea, Zofran on September 3, 2009 | 9 Comments »
I’ve been wanting to post an update for a couple of days now, but I simply have not had the energy to sit at the computer long enough to get it done! I have five or six half-drafted entries that each got started at some point along this journey, but then when the ebb in energy came I lost the momentum [...]
