This morning, I will do round two of this new chemotherapy. I may be a little tired over the next couple of days so I might not post over the weekend. Also, tomorrow is my birthday and Sunday is Mother's Day! So if I am awake and feeling good, I will be celebrating with loved ones! Talk to you soon!
Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there!
Blessings,
Lolo
Friday, May 9, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Reject passive acceptance.
Bertrand Russell, the philosopher, was once quoted as saying;" passive acceptance of the teacher's wisdom is easy to most boys and girls. It involves no effort of independent thought, and seems rational because the teacher knows more than his (or her) pupils...yet the habit of passive acceptance is a disastrous one in later life. It causes man to seek and to accept a leader, and to accept as a leader whoever is established in that position."
I believe most of us apply "passive acceptance" when it comes to our physicians and to our own health. I am glad to finally have found the term for our inherent condition. It can happen to any of us. We can be a stubborn and tenacious leader in our every day life, but when it comes to our doctors...we acquiesce to their decisions and their assessments of us. I am not blaming anyone for doing this. I have done it myself. I did it all the way until I got cancer.
Before my diagnosis, I was really good at diagnosing our own family problems...from Michael's sleep apnea to my generalized anxiety. I figured out that I was hypoglycemic and I told my doctor so she could perform the test to confirm it. She did and I was hypoglycemic. But, I started to have periods of major exhaustion after Morgan was born. I pushed my doctor for more tests. i asked for basic bloodwork and for additional assessments.
Everything came back normal, yet I wasn't acting normal. I was sleepy all the time, my energy was all over the place. I used to be able to work out and was very athletic through college. Yet during this period of time, there wasn't much I could do in terms of exercise. I was greyed out, pale. And, when I would get sick with something, it would really knock me out for days. I wasn't behaving like a 32-year-old, yet my doctos had done all they could do with basic testing and I accepted it. (I have a great primary care physician and am not sure if I could have pushed harder in any way. They did their best for me, but traditional medicine doesn't always know how to deal with the unknown. Doctors apply a standard of care that works for most people, but not all people.)
When I got diagnosed, it was a form of validation for me. I realized that the cancer was what was causing my exhaustion. My body was fighting it off, yet there was no tumor for me to notice. So the mystery of my energy loss was not known until I found my lump in December 2004. I was scared and so was Michael. All the information we got for my diagnosis was that my disease was aggressive, that it wasn't normal for people my age to get this disease. Yet, I sat in my first oncologist's office and had him assess me. He seemed to think I was pretty standard.
He said my cancer was probably stage I or II and that I probably didn't have lymph node involvement. He said I might, though. However, he thought it was unlikely that i had cancer elsewhere so they wouldn't do full body scans or tumor markers on me. There was no need. He told me that by the time they find cancer on other body parts, there is nothing they could do for the person so they don't even do extensive follow-ups.
This oncologist was cute and had all the right credentials. If I was interviewing for the best oncologist in the area, he would have made the cut by credentials alone. His cuteness made him even more intimidating to me. Michael and I joked about it that day because Michael said he was cute as a button. He was just a couple of years older than me and seemed to really like me. He thought i should do four rounds of chemo and be done with cancer. He thought that would be all I needed.
I was dumbfounded because I had been going to all these meetings where people said I had aggressive disease and he was telling me I was standard. So standard that they would only address recurrence with minimal efforts. He started talking about statistics of survival, which I can assure you are not comforting...that is when it hit me. He saw me as a number, just one more person that would go through his office. In most instances he would be right with his assessment and I harbor no bad feelings toward him, but he was wrong in my case. I was already stage IV, sitting in his office. I had a small tumor on my liver that KU would find through full body scans.
I am thankful, in retrospect, that my rejection of "passive acceptance" kicked in...that I was able to follow my instinct and know that my cancer was not standard, that I was not a statistic and that I wanted to do all I could to survive this disease. I am surprised that I acknowledged my voice in the process. I just knew I had a 0.4% chance of getting this disease and I still got it...so if I am THAT unique, then I am unique enough for a detailed assessment of my body and actual knowledge that there is or isn't anymore cancer in my body. I am also unique enough to survive it regardless of the survival statistics.
I was polite to him, but I had already made my decision before I left his office. I had scheduled a second opinion at KU, but Michael and I were hopeful that our KU second opinion would become our doctor. I knew we were going to "break up" with our first oncologist. I realized then that just because he came recommended by my surgeon, didn't mean I needed to accept him on our medical team. He was a good doctor, just not my doctor.
I did some research on my disease, came up with a list of questions for the second opinion doctor regarding my parameters for success. These were things that Michael and I wanted to know (e.g the use of full body scans and tumor markers, standard chemo for a young girl like me, etc.) I went to a support group and got their seasoned input. Then we made our way to our second opinion. Michael and I met with the doctor and his team. We asked our questions. We did our interview and decided he would be our oncologist. He made the cut because his standard of care met ours and because he really listened to me.
This decision to be with Dr. Khan at KU Med has saved my life over and over. He is a trusted member of our medical team, someone who respects my opinion and wants me to ask questions. I am thankful for him every day of my life. I am not sure where my courage came from, to reject the doctor we had been assigned. It was awkward for me, but I felt like cancer backed me in a corner and I was going to come out fighting. I just wanted the best and the brightest fighters to be coming out of that corner with me....and they are!
I encourage each of you to be in charge of your medical team, to have doctors who respect you. Get your questions answered, whatever they are because your opinion matters. You lead your medical team. In most instances, insurance allows you to have the freedom to hire and fire so use it! Reject passive acceptance! You are your health are too important for you not too...
Blessings,
Lolo
P.S. The picture is of me in one of my new do rags, camouflage! My friend, Tina, got it for me along with some others. Very cool of her!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Check them out!
Today...there are two new posts and some juicing recipes! Hope you enjoy!
Blessings,
Lolo
Blessings,
Lolo
When I was a kid....
Some of you may not know me very well while others of you have known me since I was a little girl. So, I wanted to tell or remind some of you that when I was a kid, I was that shy little girl...the one who hid behind the brightness of her big sister's light or the legs of her mother. When relatives came over, I was afraid of them. If I did not see people on a daily basis, I was terribly shy around them. My kindergarten year was horrific. It was my introduction to traditional school, but I was so shy that I cried when my mom left and my teacher didn't know how to tolerate it. I went through my cry-baby phase at the age of 4 because I was not as tough as the other kids on the block and I was always picked last on the neighborhood baseball team, regardless of my skill. In junior high and high school, I worked to remain "Good". I became so good that I think my peers were not sure how to deal with me. I don't blame them at all. In retrospect, I believe I was invisible...even to myself.
Because of my inherent shyness, it was difficult for me to open up to others and to share. It was hard for me to accept my voice and know that others wanted to know me. I could do so in writing. Writing was easy. So was standing on a stage and public speaking. But personal sharing was not so easy for me. Some of you may notice that I still struggle with expressing myself at a one-on-one level. When people look directly at me, I often look away. I also struggle with asking for what I need in a relationship and will often just accept exactly what people give to me. People have sometimes misunderstood my shyness and desire to be good as being aloof. But, over time, people understand that I am not that way at all. I really enjoy sharing and giving and being a thoughtful friend.
Cancer opened me up so much. Altered me from the girl who wouldn't change clothes in a locker room with other women to someone who will show her scars, upon request...well all the socially appropriate ones. It has made me open up emotionally to strangers and recognize that my cancer is not just my own...it is my family's, my friend's, etc. In some ways, it is easier for me to assess the disease because it is happening to me. It is easier for me to know the strength of the medicines or the power behind the scalpel because I feel the work being done. I think it is harder to be the stander-by because regardless of what I may communicate...there is still a feeling of helplessness for some.
I have tried to mitigate that feeling through through emailing and communicating to people via phone, but it is overwhelming for Michael and me. We have found that the news spreads faster than we can anticipate. I feel bad when I don't have timem to communicate to someone directly. I never want to hurt anyone's feelings, but the cancer issue is way bigger than me. I am just a part of it. Sometimes people look at me with fear...fear for me and fear of me. It doesn't matter, it reads the same to me. Sometimes uninformed people have spread misinformation with good intentions. People sometimes react to me in very strange ways and I am still learning to accept that I can not always be the one to convey information about myself. Because of all of these things, I created the blog. I wanted to be the source of the information that is shared so people can have an accurate view. I also want to make it easier for any of you to feel a part of the journey even though you are not the one going through it. I don't want anyone to feel left out, yet I have found that I can not meet everyone's needs...a truth I am learning to accept.
Regardless of my efforts, there have still been some people in my life who want back-stage passes to me and my disease. The numbers are few at this point, but these people either want me to constantly update them first-hand or they just want more of me than I can give to a relationship outside my family. For those of you who don't really know me, I fight hard not to fill that demand and meet that need. I am a caregiver at heart, a good student and a people pleaser. I want to make people's world's better, to ease their pain. I also enjoy making people happy. But, I have given so much of myself in the past that there has been no energy left for me. I believe that is when cancer crept in so I have had to reroute my energy so I can nurture myself through emotional, physical and mental practices. Yet, Michael and I have had to set some clear boundaries with some people so that they will not overwhelm our world. We have cancer in the family. It is like having a third child. It takes that much attention and time, as it should. We are combatting it with the best of meds and docs, but it is a difficult foe. It wants to win, but SO DO I. It needs a lot of attention, even though I am a tough competitor. So, I have to retreat from the world, at times, to fight. Please don't take offense to that, just know that is what I am doing. I am learning how to live with cancer.
An anonymous commenter made some interesting comments on the other day on the blog. This person was clearly angry with me and I am sorry for that. I feel pretty sure that this person is one of the people we have had to set clear boundaries with and they may comment even more when I make this post. I regret that we have had to set these limits because I couldn't take care of my health and family or blog any of you if I updated this person as much as they would like and/or stayed in a toxic relationship. I could not meet their needs, they wanted too much of me. I appreciate that some of you came to my defense in your comments, but I encourage all of you to not spend too much more energy on this person's comments. They have their agenda they are trying to push, which is not about the blog at all. It is natural for them to be angry with me because I am not doing what they want. But I am an adult and like all of you...I have to make choices in the people I let in my world of Plunkett. I wasn't very good at this before cancer, but I am learning to find my voice and make my own decisions. I will just have to accept that not everyone agrees with them. I can't change this person's perspective on wanting more of my time. It is not something I can give. I have Michael, Morgan, Jack and Cancer. These are the things that matter.
Please know I would not blog if I didn't want to..I wouldn't make myself so vulnerable to you if I didn't think there was a message to be shared. Also know, at heart, I am still just that shy girl who wants to hide behind my mom's legs again...but I can't because I have learned so much through this journey. I am forcing myself in front of those legs and walking towards the fight and communicating to you while doing so. I am also setting healthy boundaries for my life, that is one of the life lessons I am working on. Please know it is not easy to be graceful all of the time. I am also a clutz, at heart, too. :) I hope you can throw some kindness my way if I ever sound rough. Tone is not something I can convey via a blog, but my voice is strong, yet soft. There is no bitterness or angryness in me. It is not a part of my soul.
My messsage the other day might have sounded defensive if you didn't know me. That was not how it was meant. There is just no good way to communicate cancer and there is no good way to react to it. Cancer is not graceful. It makes all of us stumble over our words. To avoid sounding defensive in the future, I will not spend any more time putting warnings on my blogs about bad information. I will assume each of you know my battle is a hard one, but that you believe in me. Good cheers and positivity are what I need now. I will assume you know that. I really do appreciate your support. I am sensitive to others...I will be that mom who goes after the shy kid at a school party to help them feel welcome. I want everyone to feel good. So I have tried to address the angry commenters concerns but this is all the energy I will spend toward it. I would encourage the commenter to start their own blog if they want to make more comments like that. Free speach is available, but this blog is about fighting cancer, not the agenda of this commenter...
I would also encourage you to eat your veggies and believe in your good health! Thanks for your support! Rock on, bloggers!
Blessings,
Lolo
Because of my inherent shyness, it was difficult for me to open up to others and to share. It was hard for me to accept my voice and know that others wanted to know me. I could do so in writing. Writing was easy. So was standing on a stage and public speaking. But personal sharing was not so easy for me. Some of you may notice that I still struggle with expressing myself at a one-on-one level. When people look directly at me, I often look away. I also struggle with asking for what I need in a relationship and will often just accept exactly what people give to me. People have sometimes misunderstood my shyness and desire to be good as being aloof. But, over time, people understand that I am not that way at all. I really enjoy sharing and giving and being a thoughtful friend.
Cancer opened me up so much. Altered me from the girl who wouldn't change clothes in a locker room with other women to someone who will show her scars, upon request...well all the socially appropriate ones. It has made me open up emotionally to strangers and recognize that my cancer is not just my own...it is my family's, my friend's, etc. In some ways, it is easier for me to assess the disease because it is happening to me. It is easier for me to know the strength of the medicines or the power behind the scalpel because I feel the work being done. I think it is harder to be the stander-by because regardless of what I may communicate...there is still a feeling of helplessness for some.
I have tried to mitigate that feeling through through emailing and communicating to people via phone, but it is overwhelming for Michael and me. We have found that the news spreads faster than we can anticipate. I feel bad when I don't have timem to communicate to someone directly. I never want to hurt anyone's feelings, but the cancer issue is way bigger than me. I am just a part of it. Sometimes people look at me with fear...fear for me and fear of me. It doesn't matter, it reads the same to me. Sometimes uninformed people have spread misinformation with good intentions. People sometimes react to me in very strange ways and I am still learning to accept that I can not always be the one to convey information about myself. Because of all of these things, I created the blog. I wanted to be the source of the information that is shared so people can have an accurate view. I also want to make it easier for any of you to feel a part of the journey even though you are not the one going through it. I don't want anyone to feel left out, yet I have found that I can not meet everyone's needs...a truth I am learning to accept.
Regardless of my efforts, there have still been some people in my life who want back-stage passes to me and my disease. The numbers are few at this point, but these people either want me to constantly update them first-hand or they just want more of me than I can give to a relationship outside my family. For those of you who don't really know me, I fight hard not to fill that demand and meet that need. I am a caregiver at heart, a good student and a people pleaser. I want to make people's world's better, to ease their pain. I also enjoy making people happy. But, I have given so much of myself in the past that there has been no energy left for me. I believe that is when cancer crept in so I have had to reroute my energy so I can nurture myself through emotional, physical and mental practices. Yet, Michael and I have had to set some clear boundaries with some people so that they will not overwhelm our world. We have cancer in the family. It is like having a third child. It takes that much attention and time, as it should. We are combatting it with the best of meds and docs, but it is a difficult foe. It wants to win, but SO DO I. It needs a lot of attention, even though I am a tough competitor. So, I have to retreat from the world, at times, to fight. Please don't take offense to that, just know that is what I am doing. I am learning how to live with cancer.
An anonymous commenter made some interesting comments on the other day on the blog. This person was clearly angry with me and I am sorry for that. I feel pretty sure that this person is one of the people we have had to set clear boundaries with and they may comment even more when I make this post. I regret that we have had to set these limits because I couldn't take care of my health and family or blog any of you if I updated this person as much as they would like and/or stayed in a toxic relationship. I could not meet their needs, they wanted too much of me. I appreciate that some of you came to my defense in your comments, but I encourage all of you to not spend too much more energy on this person's comments. They have their agenda they are trying to push, which is not about the blog at all. It is natural for them to be angry with me because I am not doing what they want. But I am an adult and like all of you...I have to make choices in the people I let in my world of Plunkett. I wasn't very good at this before cancer, but I am learning to find my voice and make my own decisions. I will just have to accept that not everyone agrees with them. I can't change this person's perspective on wanting more of my time. It is not something I can give. I have Michael, Morgan, Jack and Cancer. These are the things that matter.
Please know I would not blog if I didn't want to..I wouldn't make myself so vulnerable to you if I didn't think there was a message to be shared. Also know, at heart, I am still just that shy girl who wants to hide behind my mom's legs again...but I can't because I have learned so much through this journey. I am forcing myself in front of those legs and walking towards the fight and communicating to you while doing so. I am also setting healthy boundaries for my life, that is one of the life lessons I am working on. Please know it is not easy to be graceful all of the time. I am also a clutz, at heart, too. :) I hope you can throw some kindness my way if I ever sound rough. Tone is not something I can convey via a blog, but my voice is strong, yet soft. There is no bitterness or angryness in me. It is not a part of my soul.
My messsage the other day might have sounded defensive if you didn't know me. That was not how it was meant. There is just no good way to communicate cancer and there is no good way to react to it. Cancer is not graceful. It makes all of us stumble over our words. To avoid sounding defensive in the future, I will not spend any more time putting warnings on my blogs about bad information. I will assume each of you know my battle is a hard one, but that you believe in me. Good cheers and positivity are what I need now. I will assume you know that. I really do appreciate your support. I am sensitive to others...I will be that mom who goes after the shy kid at a school party to help them feel welcome. I want everyone to feel good. So I have tried to address the angry commenters concerns but this is all the energy I will spend toward it. I would encourage the commenter to start their own blog if they want to make more comments like that. Free speach is available, but this blog is about fighting cancer, not the agenda of this commenter...
I would also encourage you to eat your veggies and believe in your good health! Thanks for your support! Rock on, bloggers!
Blessings,
Lolo
Chemo gets a bad rap!
So, people sometimes wonder why I always opt for the tougher medicines or surgeries when given the choice. There have been multiple times along this journey where Michael and I have been the ones to choose the tough road instead of the easy one. We have also chosen the tough road in these instances. Sometimes, this meant surgery, but other times this has meant doing chemotherapy when there was no known assurance it was the "right" thing to do.
I wanted to explain that a little today. I have also talked about how chemotherapies and other drugs are a luxury for my cancer, breast cancer. There have been many brave people before me who brought attention to breast cancer, raised money and made a difference in terms of research. These steps have directly affect me, someone who had no known risks of the disease and no family history.
Chemotherapy, itself, is the name applied to several drugs that make blast at the fast-growing cells in the body. Cancer cells are fast-growing, but so is hair, stomach and the mouth. Chemo, though tough, does not have the ability to discern these cells from eachother. Because of that, it wipes out the hair, causes mouth sores, depletes the white blood cells and causes nausea and other side-effects. There are many meds that keep these side effects in check. In all my chemo, I have only had one incidence of vomiting and very little nausea. Each chemo will have additional side effects such as peripheral neuropathy (numbness in fingers and toes).
These side effects will roll through the body after the chemotherapy is infused into the body via a vein or temporary port that is placed in the chest or arm. For me, I have weekly treatments. During my treatment, they will give me pre-meds that include anti-nausea meds that will be in my system for three days. Sometimes these meds are in pill form, it just depends on the type of med being administered. These meds work in amazing ways. Noone should have major nausea issues on chemo because the meds are out there to help.
For the first three days after my treatment last week, I was pretty out of it. I had fevers and slept a lot, but as my body gets acclimated to the medicine, those days will get easier. Motrin helped and Michael and my family are troupers. They keep the kids busy and pay attention to them so they are happy. On the fourth day after, Tuesday, I started to feel pretty good and didn't have to take any over the counter meds to feel better. Today, which is day five, I am even better. I do get the chills every once in a while, but I was able to get the kids ready for school today and go to Target. That is pretty good for me.
Chemo, overall, is very doable and if given the option to do meds or stay away from them...I will always choose meds. They have helped keep my disease manageable and be an active person. Don't get me wrong, there are bad days. When they are bad, I let myself feel bad. I rest and don't overdo it. If I get down, I journal. I take action about things, I always try to feel that I am in charge of my treatment and disease. I have also been afraid of my cancer, but I try to turn that into respect. I tell people I dance with my cancer, but I always try to lead. Before this new medicine, I felt that the cancer was leading a little and I was ill-at-ease. Now, I feel much better because I am armed to fight.
I haven't lost my hair yet, but my friend Tina taught me how to tie a bandana into a do rag really well today. So, I am going to get some of those and wear them through the summer. I will start wearing them now so the kids are used to them by the time the hair falls out. I have learned that hair is over-rated when it comes to staying healthy. There is no comparison. I attached a picture of Jack and me with my do rag on. As I start to lose hair and get acclimated to that process, I will take pictures and keep you a part of that as well. It will happen in about two weeks, but the shedding process takes only 3 days. WILD.
Blessings,
Lolo
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Veggies and chlorophyll drinks
So, I got some good questions from Scott regarding what veggies are good to mix together and how to get started with this whole juicing thing. He also asked about chlorophyll. I will give you all a little detail about these things.
First of all, don't get too wrapped up in buying a juicer and overwhelming your kitchen with veggies that you may or may not like. Most veggies, that are juiced, have a natural sweetness to them. The juice tastes WAY better than the veggie so that should be encouraging to each of you. You might have an appliance at home that serves as a juicer, but you didn't realize was a juicer. Like the Magic Bullet, which is a juicer, blender, mixer. I went to target and bought a cheap Juiceman, I have gotten my $50 out of it. I realize $50 is not ideal to spend, but you will find that you actually like some of the juices once your taste buds get used to them. And, many books have a fruit juice section so your kids will go crazy for that. That is a good way to get them started on juicing.
My staple drink is 3 carrots, 3 or 4 stalks of celery, 2 apples(for sweetness) and 4 to 6 kale leafs. What is kale? That is what i asked when I got started because I got a little overwhelmed by all the veggies. Kale is a leafy green that is darker green and in the lettuce section. All grocer sections should have kale. If they have an organic section, it may be there. You will be surprised that all these veggies only make about an 8oz glass of juice. But, it is a good serving size. A good starter set for veggies for a while. Other things to add if you want some more taste is beets, but don't overwhelm your system with beets. Beets, in general, MOVE food in your body. So you want to be gentle with them and respect the POWER OF THE BEET!
Lastly, if you go to www.herbsetc.com, you will find a supplement called Chloroxygen water. This is what I use. It is a small bottle with a dropper and you just drop between 8 to 16 drops in your water. It makes your water green, but if you can get over that, it tastes pretty decent. It kind of tastes like you are eating grass...I have not really tasted grass before so please don't imagine me doing so. Though, I should probably take that back because I do use wheatgrass in juicing and it tastes just fine. Regardless, these dropper systems are helpful because you can used distilled/regular water and it won't be so expensive. There are a lot of very pricey products that talk about ionized water and though they may be great, I am not sure you all need to go to expensive measures for health maintenance. You might check out Whole Foods, Wild Oats or any other organic food store for the chloroxygen water. They should have it, the product is a great source of chlorophyll, while also boosting the production of red blood cells and creating more oxygen at the cellular level. All good things.
I appreciate all of your thoughtful comments...Scott has some really great questions. I hope all of you feel welcome to post questions. I don't want anyone to be afraid to do that. There is really no question that I won't answer because that is just the way I am now. Cancer stripped me of my modestly and I am totally okay with that. Each time I respond to questions, it helps me process information in my head even further. They say the best way to learn something is to teach it.
As always, I feel privileged to be alive and healing....to have access to such great information regarding health, medicine and nutrition...and my doctors! Sometime, I am going to write a full post about my oncologist and how he has saved my life a multitude of times. He rocks! In the meantime, I hope that I am putting all this information in an easy-to-read format and making it more accessible to YOU...so that learning is easy and fun.
God bless each of you.
Lolo
First of all, don't get too wrapped up in buying a juicer and overwhelming your kitchen with veggies that you may or may not like. Most veggies, that are juiced, have a natural sweetness to them. The juice tastes WAY better than the veggie so that should be encouraging to each of you. You might have an appliance at home that serves as a juicer, but you didn't realize was a juicer. Like the Magic Bullet, which is a juicer, blender, mixer. I went to target and bought a cheap Juiceman, I have gotten my $50 out of it. I realize $50 is not ideal to spend, but you will find that you actually like some of the juices once your taste buds get used to them. And, many books have a fruit juice section so your kids will go crazy for that. That is a good way to get them started on juicing.
My staple drink is 3 carrots, 3 or 4 stalks of celery, 2 apples(for sweetness) and 4 to 6 kale leafs. What is kale? That is what i asked when I got started because I got a little overwhelmed by all the veggies. Kale is a leafy green that is darker green and in the lettuce section. All grocer sections should have kale. If they have an organic section, it may be there. You will be surprised that all these veggies only make about an 8oz glass of juice. But, it is a good serving size. A good starter set for veggies for a while. Other things to add if you want some more taste is beets, but don't overwhelm your system with beets. Beets, in general, MOVE food in your body. So you want to be gentle with them and respect the POWER OF THE BEET!
Lastly, if you go to www.herbsetc.com, you will find a supplement called Chloroxygen water. This is what I use. It is a small bottle with a dropper and you just drop between 8 to 16 drops in your water. It makes your water green, but if you can get over that, it tastes pretty decent. It kind of tastes like you are eating grass...I have not really tasted grass before so please don't imagine me doing so. Though, I should probably take that back because I do use wheatgrass in juicing and it tastes just fine. Regardless, these dropper systems are helpful because you can used distilled/regular water and it won't be so expensive. There are a lot of very pricey products that talk about ionized water and though they may be great, I am not sure you all need to go to expensive measures for health maintenance. You might check out Whole Foods, Wild Oats or any other organic food store for the chloroxygen water. They should have it, the product is a great source of chlorophyll, while also boosting the production of red blood cells and creating more oxygen at the cellular level. All good things.
I appreciate all of your thoughtful comments...Scott has some really great questions. I hope all of you feel welcome to post questions. I don't want anyone to be afraid to do that. There is really no question that I won't answer because that is just the way I am now. Cancer stripped me of my modestly and I am totally okay with that. Each time I respond to questions, it helps me process information in my head even further. They say the best way to learn something is to teach it.
As always, I feel privileged to be alive and healing....to have access to such great information regarding health, medicine and nutrition...and my doctors! Sometime, I am going to write a full post about my oncologist and how he has saved my life a multitude of times. He rocks! In the meantime, I hope that I am putting all this information in an easy-to-read format and making it more accessible to YOU...so that learning is easy and fun.
God bless each of you.
Lolo
Monday, May 5, 2008
New meds, new bump in the road...
So, I am only encouraging you to read this if you have a positive outlook because I do. i just want to be honest with people so all of you can look to the blog and I don't have to talk about myself at family events, friends events, etc. I am really not that interesting, but for some reason, this cancer journey has put me at the center of a lot of people's hearts, as well as their gossip. I am thankful for the prayers and positive energy people send my way, but I have never wanted to be part of a rumor mill, have really tried to live my life to be as GOOD as possible. I haven't always achieved this goal, but I have tried. I have no choice these days so I am going to share the information with you directly so you know from me.
We had scans last week and it looks like there is more cancerous activity in my liver. Although we are extremely encouraged by the fact that my lungs responded to the last set of medicines....it seems that they did nothing to keep my liver in check. My liver has been in check for some time so this was a bit surprising. Regardless, we are going to do a couple of things to fix it. First and foremost, we are starting some new medicines. One of these drugs is a chemo, and is a sister drug to some other drugs I have responded to ,successfully, in the past. So, we were thinking this would be the right thing to do. However, I am going to lose my hair again because this is a harsher chemo than some I have been on recently. I am not sure which"DO" I will be sporting this summer, either stylish hats or a funky wig. I am contemplating a totally fake wig that has PINK coloring on it or something fun. Will check those out later in the week.
My overall liver function is in the perfect range, seriously. It is like the rest of my body doesn't know there is cancer in there, but the liver is important. My bilirubin number is great, however, my liver is probably stressed out. So, we are doing these meds to destress my little liver and then get on a powerful clinical trial. Please do not be discouraged. If anything, be encouraged. I am strong enough to take these meds. That is a blessing. They found this activity in my liver at the earliest possible point via the scans that I get....which is a blessing. They are treatable and I am a responder to these types of meds, which is a blessing. I think we were hoping I was done with the harsher drugs, but I may need be on hard drugs for a bit longer. There are some theories regarding cancer that indicate it takes about five years to develop a cancerous tumor, so I have always thought it would be about five years from diagnosis that I would be out of the real battle of this disease. I think that is a reasonable expectation.
After this, like I said, we are working with the clinical trial people so I can get this powerful new medicine. I would explain it to you, but the documentation is not really clear for a medical amateur like myself. The medicines continue to catch up with my disease and change my story. Although the fight is harder than I would like, it is a winnable fight. I am fortunate to have these drugs, fortunate to be alive to feel frustrated about chemo. My scans and the chemos are an absolute luxury that other cancers do not have. If there are prayers, positive thoughts and positive energy you want to send my way....please do so. But, keep in mind that I am in fighting mode right now. I promise to respond to any questions you may have, especially about nutrition, but I can not take away your cancer experiences or help you cope with mine. I can encourage you to build your own beleif system, but for now, I just ask that you only be positive and don't mess with my beliefe system.:)
I know all of you that read this blog care about me in some way. I get so many comments via email or conversation. I would love to get your feedback actually on the blog, though, so that others believe it isn't scary to post. I made it easier by creating a way to comment anonymously. I only want to create a positive blog so you all know that healing is at hand...for everyone, including lil ole laura plunkett...and for YOU, for whatever burdens your health and your soul. I will tell you what I believe. I personally believe I am on a muddy pathway to healing. I am not disillusioned so please don't sell me short on that end. But, I know what I am made of and I know I can do THIS. I have never been handed anything I can't take on in this fight. I believe in the power of the human spirit and in God's powers to create miracles through medicines. I believe that is what He is doing now. (Sorry, I said no preaching, but I had to share a little of how I feel.)
These meds will cut into my bike riding and walk training I have been working on, but I am just going to try to suck it up, as I did last year. I am going to ride/walk when I feel up to it and not ride if I don't feel up to it. I will still raise money and plan on being at these events. I am going to continue to juice. I won't take all the supplements as I don't want them to interfere with the chemo....which seems to be working pretty hard on me right now. My side is actually bloated and it feels like their is an internal battle going on in that organ...because there is. The medicines have ignited a battle that my body should have done on its own.
Once again, I believe in the day where complete healing will be recognized in my body...through the use of good meds, good docs, good nutrition, etc. I hope you can believe the same!
Blessings,
Lolo
We had scans last week and it looks like there is more cancerous activity in my liver. Although we are extremely encouraged by the fact that my lungs responded to the last set of medicines....it seems that they did nothing to keep my liver in check. My liver has been in check for some time so this was a bit surprising. Regardless, we are going to do a couple of things to fix it. First and foremost, we are starting some new medicines. One of these drugs is a chemo, and is a sister drug to some other drugs I have responded to ,successfully, in the past. So, we were thinking this would be the right thing to do. However, I am going to lose my hair again because this is a harsher chemo than some I have been on recently. I am not sure which"DO" I will be sporting this summer, either stylish hats or a funky wig. I am contemplating a totally fake wig that has PINK coloring on it or something fun. Will check those out later in the week.
My overall liver function is in the perfect range, seriously. It is like the rest of my body doesn't know there is cancer in there, but the liver is important. My bilirubin number is great, however, my liver is probably stressed out. So, we are doing these meds to destress my little liver and then get on a powerful clinical trial. Please do not be discouraged. If anything, be encouraged. I am strong enough to take these meds. That is a blessing. They found this activity in my liver at the earliest possible point via the scans that I get....which is a blessing. They are treatable and I am a responder to these types of meds, which is a blessing. I think we were hoping I was done with the harsher drugs, but I may need be on hard drugs for a bit longer. There are some theories regarding cancer that indicate it takes about five years to develop a cancerous tumor, so I have always thought it would be about five years from diagnosis that I would be out of the real battle of this disease. I think that is a reasonable expectation.
After this, like I said, we are working with the clinical trial people so I can get this powerful new medicine. I would explain it to you, but the documentation is not really clear for a medical amateur like myself. The medicines continue to catch up with my disease and change my story. Although the fight is harder than I would like, it is a winnable fight. I am fortunate to have these drugs, fortunate to be alive to feel frustrated about chemo. My scans and the chemos are an absolute luxury that other cancers do not have. If there are prayers, positive thoughts and positive energy you want to send my way....please do so. But, keep in mind that I am in fighting mode right now. I promise to respond to any questions you may have, especially about nutrition, but I can not take away your cancer experiences or help you cope with mine. I can encourage you to build your own beleif system, but for now, I just ask that you only be positive and don't mess with my beliefe system.:)
I know all of you that read this blog care about me in some way. I get so many comments via email or conversation. I would love to get your feedback actually on the blog, though, so that others believe it isn't scary to post. I made it easier by creating a way to comment anonymously. I only want to create a positive blog so you all know that healing is at hand...for everyone, including lil ole laura plunkett...and for YOU, for whatever burdens your health and your soul. I will tell you what I believe. I personally believe I am on a muddy pathway to healing. I am not disillusioned so please don't sell me short on that end. But, I know what I am made of and I know I can do THIS. I have never been handed anything I can't take on in this fight. I believe in the power of the human spirit and in God's powers to create miracles through medicines. I believe that is what He is doing now. (Sorry, I said no preaching, but I had to share a little of how I feel.)
These meds will cut into my bike riding and walk training I have been working on, but I am just going to try to suck it up, as I did last year. I am going to ride/walk when I feel up to it and not ride if I don't feel up to it. I will still raise money and plan on being at these events. I am going to continue to juice. I won't take all the supplements as I don't want them to interfere with the chemo....which seems to be working pretty hard on me right now. My side is actually bloated and it feels like their is an internal battle going on in that organ...because there is. The medicines have ignited a battle that my body should have done on its own.
Once again, I believe in the day where complete healing will be recognized in my body...through the use of good meds, good docs, good nutrition, etc. I hope you can believe the same!
Blessings,
Lolo
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