My treatments were behind me, with nothing but rest and convalescence in front of me. Make no mistake, the rest was sorely needed. I was very fatigued so I still slept quite a lot. It took a few months but once I started getting some strength back and my immune system strengthened up a bit, I wanted to go out and do something, anything. I was getting antsy. Continue reading Convalescence and Enjoying Life Again
Day 0: the day of my last cancer treatment! Thirty-three radiation treatments, two chemo sessions, countless doctor/oncology appointments, in-home nurses coming and going, PICC line flushes, feeding tube mishaps, a multitude of transfusions and it comes down to this, my very last radiation session. Continue reading My Last Cancer Treatment! Bang the gong!
Bustling about the waiting areas and treatment areas were several kind-hearted souls. They gave of their time and received no compensation, yet they provided services that I gratefully accepted. They are the hospital volunteers. Continue reading Cheers to the hospital volunteers: I ♥ them!
You know, everybody knows the most common troublesome side effects of cancer treatment: the skin burns from radiation, the nausea from chemo, perhaps rapid weight loss (which is a good and bad thing), and sometimes-soul-crushing fatigue. BUT there is more to the side effects than that, and some of mine were positive! Continue reading Some positive side effects of my treatments
After the second chemo session and halfway through my radiation treatments, my ongoing fatigue was becoming worse; however, uglier side effects from my treatments gradually began to arise. Continue reading More treatment side effects: they’re getting ugly
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” This line is an adaptation from the poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns. It reminds us, as everyone is aware, that no matter how hard you try to avoid it, the unexpected can happen. And this was definitely the case when I experienced some radiation treatment hiccups.
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”
― Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown’s Little Book of Wisdom
I’ve had a lot of people ask a lot of different questions, and one of the most asked questions was “what happened on a typical treatment day?” Continue reading My typical cancer treatment day
Once word got out that I had cancer, there was such an outpouring of love, support, and well wishes that I just have to share. At first only family and close friends knew of my diagnosis, but as word gradually spread I experienced a tidal wave of well wishes. Continue reading Well Wishes
My last post was before Christmas, and I said my next post was going to be about the mountain of well wishes that I’d received. And then, I disappeared until now. Can you guess the correct reason? Continue reading Why haven’t I written in a while?
What fuels the fire that gives you the strength to fight your cancer? I needed to really believe that I was going to get well and so I had to find a way to find internal strength and ignite my cancer-fighting fire.
**Warning: this post contains an image with profanity. I found it inspirational but if you are offended by such things, then proceed at your own risk. Continue reading Fuel the fire to fight cancer!