Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Survivor's Blog- August 14, 2013 chemo update...

Hey Everyone-

It is my birthday today, and I have really been enjoying all the birthday wishes. We are celebrating this weekend, when I have had a bit of time to recover from all this doctor stuff.

I had my final chemo in this series yesterday, and today I am back at the cancer center hooked up to another IV as I write this. I have been feeling really tired and sick lately. I can barely make it out of bed enough to teach class and make sure we have food on the table. I am also having trouble catching my breath when I walk across a room. Turns out my hemoglobin counts had dropped really low due to all the chemo treatments. The normal treatment for low counts of hemoglobin is to give you a shot of Arenesp or send you off for a blood transfusion. The shot has worked for me in the past so they were planning on doing that. As is typical, they sent it over to my insurance and they wanted to pre- certify it ( ie. find a way not to pay it.). So I could not get the shot yesterday, even though I personally called the insurance company and had my case worker try to push it through.

The lack of shot and all the new chemo from yesterday has left me feeling like I should curl up in a ball off in a corner somewhere!!! The good new is today they will get the shot in me before I leave, and they have also pumped me up with more fluids, steroids, and other stuff that should have me feeling better shortly. I guess the lesson for today is make friends with someone at the insurance company.. if you have an issue they can help you resolve it. Thanks to Eileen B. at Medical Mutual who spent her afternoon yesterday chasing my paperwork around the Columbus office.
Pajamas, IV, and a big ole moon face from steroids!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Survivor's Blog - August 13, 2013 Creativity is good for cancer patients.....

Finally, some proof to back up the theory that creativity is good for cancer patients. For me this is a no brainer, I know that teaching people to use their creative energy and become artists is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Teaching any art class relieves my pain while I am teaching, as well as helps me keep my sanity through all this yucky treatment.

This is the link to the article and study that appeared in the American Cancer Society News letter this month if you would like to read it:

http://img.delivery.net/cm50content/19439/62483/LP/1-3/Landing1.html?utm_campaign=julyaugust2013&utm_medium=email&utm_source=fullserve-20130807-corpcenter-newconnections-julyaugust2013&utm_content=acxiom


Here are a few of the demo cakes, and recipes I have created since becoming a cancer patient! The more silly I get , the better I feel. Check out the " Chick Deviled Eggs" at the bottom of this post!!!



Spider Cake from Demos 2012

 
 
 


Sunday, August 11, 2013

Survivor's Blog August 11, 2013-- A tip about how to get out of bed and functioning on a really bad morning...

I have been meaning to put this tip to paper forever, and then I forget about it. Typical chemo brain!!! I use this tip almost every day. Today I remembered to post it so that you can give it a try. I use it every morning!

Just for the record, I am not advocating pushing yourself to get out of bed if you really need to stay in bed! I am not a doctor- just a person who has had to find ways to cope with cancer. This tip is for days when you feel like you could probably get going, if only you had a bit of help. I have talked to several chemotherapy patients that use this method  of waking up and getting going in the morning. I call my method:








Waking up in Stages:

Step 1: Have all of your cancer drugs within arms reach of your bed. Also have a glass of water with a lid and a straw within arms reach as well. If your pain drugs must be taken with food you want to add crackers to your nightstand too.

Step 2: Alarm #1- My first alarm bell of the day comes two hours prior to the time I must get out of bed. As soon as the first alarm rings, I sit up and decide if I need pain medicine or nausea medicine ( or both).  If I am really painful but, not super sick  to my stomach: I will take one dose of my pain medications, put on my anti nausea psi bands,  stuff down a couple crackers, and then set Alarm #2 for one hour out from my first alarm. If I am super sick I might also take a dose of nausea medication at this time.

If my feet are too sore to put on the floor, I also use this alarm to rub a cayenne based muscle rub on my feet and legs so that it takes effect by the time Alarm # 2 goes off.

Step 3: Alarm #2- When the second alarm rings, I will sit up and take an anti nausea pill if I still need one. Sometimes, if my pain medications and the Psi bands are working, I do not need anti nausea pills. If this is the case I will take my thyroid medication and sleep for one more hour before waking up the final time for Alarm #3.  If my feet are still sore, I will rub one more time with the muscle soreness stuff. When I am done, I set my alarm for one more hour out.


Step 4: Alarm #3- This is the final alarm. Generally, I feel well enough to put my feet on the floor at this point and go on with my morning routine. I always plan a bit more than an hour and a half  after this alarm to get out of the house because, many times I have to take a long hot bath to free up the rest of my muscles and nerve endings without bathing in Muscle rub.

If you are keeping count, my 4 step method for waking up takes three to four hours to accomplish. I plan ahead and assume I am going to use these hours to wake up every day. If I wake up feeling well when the first alarm rings, I go ahead and get up.

Most days though, I have to plan to start my first alarm 2 hours before I actually want to wake up and 3 1/2 to 4 hours before I need to leave the house.  So if I need to be up and out of bed at 8:00 am , I set my alarm clock for 6:00 am. This way I can do everything I need to do to get out of bed and function at the best level I can during the day.

I hope this tip helps those of you that are on chemo out. Waking in stages is a pain in the rear but, it beats not getting out of bed!!!!! I have been able to keep working and functioning in large part due to stumbling onto this method of making my pain and nausea livable.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Survivor's Blog August 8, 2013- Take the Teal Challenge or write me a blog post...

It is Thursday and I am still wiped out from chemo Tuesday. As a matter of fact, I am still in my pajamas as I type this. I did not even bother to put on clothes for the gas man, who is out refilling the propane tank as I type this.

I do have two issues today that need your attention. The first is a fund raising drive for the month of September benefiting Ovarian Cancer Patients. This is an online drive and normally, I would sponsor a page and do the drive myself. However, I am just too pooped to coordinate it. Would any of you like to spearhead a page on my behalf??  Here is the link if you want to try it:

https://ocna.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=register.start&eventID=507

Second issue, I need  a few of you to write blog posts for me. If you look at my August 6, 2013 ( http://scrambledeggssurvivingovariancancer.blogspot.com/2013/08/survivors-blog-august-6-2013.html ) blog post it describes what kind of articles I need, even gives you a few samples. I am just looking for a few contributors willing to inspire folks with cancer and folks caring for cancer patients. It does not have to be anything fancy or earthshaking. It can be done in MS Word or Publisher and I will not do any editing to it.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Survivor's Blog August 6, 2013

Hey Everyone-

Once again, I am at SCOA hooked to an IV pole for chemo. So I am asking all of you to do me a favor: if you are a cancer survivor or if you have supported a person going through cancer I would like you to send me an article for this blog.

I always ask cancer survivors/patients to write about what small thing helped you out the most when you were in cancer treatment?

For caregivers and friends of cancer patients I ask that you write about what you did to support your friend and what seemed to be of most help?

For example, I found the meals my sister cooked up for us the first time I had chemo to super helpful and if I were writing I would mention those as what helped the most. If you are looking for an example here are a couple of past articles to get the creative juices rolling.

http://scrambledeggssurvivingovariancancer.blogspot.com/2013/07/article-by-david-fellow-cancer-survivor.html

http://scrambledeggssurvivingovariancancer.blogspot.com/2013/07/survivors-blog-july-31-2013-article-by.html

The View from my Chemo Chair---IV city!!!!!!
You can send me the article in MS word or Publisher and I will post it directly to my web site. Please remember the goal here is to help other folks with cancer , in particular Ovarian Cancer!

Survivor's Blog August 7, 2013: Adding " Cancer Fighting Foods" into your diet...

I am always looking for new ways to make myself better and stronger to fight this disease. The effects of chemo are always unpredictable and scary. I always try to do as much as I can to stay healthy otherwise. Recently I have been researching and trying " Angiogenic" foods. Angiogenic foods are food that cancer researchers believe will stop tumor growth. Many of the recommended foods are vegetables or fruit with a couple of fish choices as well. The problem I am finding is that each Cancer Society or Organization has a different list of foods posted and recommended as Angiogenic. Basically, I am not sure which list to believe? My gut tells me that if I just stick to a sensible diet high in fruit and vegetables and low in processed foods and meats I will do fairly well.

Here are some of the sites I found with lists of cancer fighting foods:

http://www.angio.org/programs-help.php  - The Angiogenesis Foundation

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-18/diet/34971937_1_breast-cancer-cancer-cell-growth-tumour-growth - Article by the Indian Council of Medical Research

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/5-foods-starve-cancer- Dr. Oz's list and article

http://www.aicr.org/foods-that-fight-cancer/?gclid=CPb9vP6s67gCFU6Z4AodnREApA- American Institute for Cancer Research *** This one seems to be the most comprehensive list. Most of it is common sense!!


 The big issue with preparing these Angiogenic foods (as anyone on chemo will tell you) is that some days it is truly an monumental task to prepare your own food. You are either to sick to manage making it or too sick to manage eating it. Other days I manage to make a meal and by the time I have made it I am too exhausted to eat it.The sickness also limits me eating on bad days (particularly fruits because they are a bit acidic and my esophagus's still is burnt from the effects of Doxil).

So for now, I am just trying to eat well and add angiogenic foods where I can. I will also keep researching to see if I can find some better answers than I have so far. Here is what we tried for dinner last night:

Stir Fry with Kale , Chia seeds, and lots of veggies over a mix of rice and quinoa... yummy!!!!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Survivor's Blog August 3, 2013: A Little Humor.......

Sometimes having cancer is just so unbelievably humiliating that all you can do is see the humor in the whole situation. When you have cancer sometimes the humor is a bit dark! In my case, this has led to some pretty silly moments.

The most recent cancer development is that I am so tired I have to very carefully schedule anything I do so as not to use up too much energy. It is a good thing I don't shop at Wal - Mart because, getting across that much acreage would wear me out!

Publix ( my favorite grocery store), actually offers complimentary scooters you can use while you are shopping. For the past few weeks I have had to use the scooter to get all my shopping done. This is usually the cause of much laughter for all the staff at Publix. I always warn them.. come near me and I may hit you.......

Last week Courtney shopped with me and everything was OK until I had to back the scooter up.  As I started backing up .. the back up beepers came on. Beep , beep , beep.... I sounded just like a forklift in reverse....

Why oh why, did they have to make me sound like a thousand pounds of boxes going backwards in a warehouse??? Or like the Garbage truck at 6:00 am????

 
Of course, Court found this so funny she had to film it......... Nothing like a few well placed beeps to keep you humble.