Cactus Down! Cactus Down!

Whew, the last couple days have been a whirlwind. A whirlwind of needles for blood work. A whirlwind in waves of nausea. A whirlwind of emotions for me and for Tom. I kid no one, there is nothing easy about eliminating cancer. Not only for the patient, also for loved ones, especially care givers. We’ve both felt like the cactus in this picture multiple times.

We were so ready for the weekend.

Doctor’s orders this week have been to be in bed by 8:00. “If you want a good day tomorrow, go to bed by 8 tonight.” It helps with our natural circadian rhythms; apparently I’m not nocturnal (or crepuscular) like my cats. Oh, the life of a house cat. An eight o’clock bedtime definitely puts a kink in blogging and technology time. Being online is frowned upon during our treatments during the day; and quite frankly, I don’t have the energy for it. I try to focus my energy on my treatment.

In an attempt to catch up, here are a few photos to update you on my week.

This was Monday, a curcumin treatment day. My nurse, Monica, takes my glucose levels (this time from my ear lobe) every five minutes after giving me insulin to lower my blood sugar level and when it gets to a certain low...I get to eat fruit! And drink fresh, raw apple juice! Yum. Then my blood sugar goes up and the cancer opens up to feast on that sugar. The fruit is like a bait for it. While it's open I get a high doses of curcumin via IV to destroy the cancer cells.

Monday was a long day at the center, but we got "home" before dark. Since I felt much stronger than I did during my fasting weekend, we were able to go for a walk around the neighborhood and we were blessed with this gorgeous sunset. It felt like home.

Tuesday brought my chemo day. Remember looks can be deceiving. It looks like I am all warm and bundled up with mittens and a hat...but not. They are ice packs!!! The mittens are the worse part. I wear them for at least 45 minutes to an hour. "Why?" you ask. Cold restricts blood cells and that keeps the chemo agents away from those areas. So that saves me from losing my hair and getting nerve damage in my hands and feet. (I have ice pack "slippers" on my feet as well outside the picture frame.)

Can I just put in a picture where I don't look like a complete dork? Thanks.

Wednesday was my torture day. I have no pictures. Well, it ended very productive, but my picture is definitely TMI. So I will go on. Both Amanda and I had to get stuck, we say "stabbed", 5 times for blood draws during our IV treatment. They tried to put something in us so we wouldn't have to be "stabbed" 5 separate times, but both of our veins closed up on the thing. We were NOT happy to say the least. Getting that "thing", whatever it is called, hurt like heck the first time! Then the nurse tried AGAIN to put it in; and she's really good at it supposedly. She does this in the ER, her second job, all the time. Amanda and I, however, were DONE! I knew in the beginning when I saw Amanda in anguish (as she was getting "stabbed"), I was doomed. Amanda is one tough cookie. Needless to say, Stick It To The Cancer Man got strangled severely Wednesday. Glad I had the jerk with me. His nickname is now "NumbNuts." (Right, Mel?)

Thursday and Friday were less eventful. Nothing jumps out at me now. I remember my "intention" for Thursday was to eat 3 bites of veggies and keep them down. I did it! Victory. Friday, I figured out how to minimize the nausea, drink lots, I mean LOTS of water. Every time the nausea came, I drank. It worked. I was able to eat half of my veggie lunch and it kind of tasted good, too. Another victory.

Saturday has finally come and I got to go "hiking" today with Tom. I shouldn't call it "hiking" though, it was really just a longer walk and beautiful and during the heat of the day. It was great, even though it was slow. And you can tell we didn't climb any heights. I am not up to any inclines.

And I finally got to eat out a restaurant! It was wonderful to have an appetite and some raw vegan deliciousness.

I just love the weekends; it is such a blessing to feel like "normal" person for a little while and not be tether up to an IV.

Sunday, tomorrow, if you have a chance, our church is sharing a little bit of our story in the service. Check it out at calvaryonline.org.