Getting Better All The Time

Been a bad reaction time from the last chemo. And just as you start feeling somewhat yourself again, bam, here comes another treatment Monday. ugh.

My blood count had gone down, when I was at the hospital Monday last, and they kept me off unpeelable fruit, raw veg, etc. So I was not allowed grapes, tomatoes, lettuce of any kind etc. My temperature was up a bit (99.1), runny nose, bit of stomach upset, all side effects. Also, wicked barn burning acid reflux. I mean, I couldn't eat anything, only vanilla ice cream and milk. So to add to ever growing list of meds to take I must use Prilosec to be able to eat.

And my feet! Good Lord, burning like I was walking on coals. Now that is also subsiding, but all this will return after chemo on Monday.

I saw a radiation oncologist yesterday. SUPER nice guy, originally from Long Island and an Islanders fan, so already I love him! He read over my charts etc., and said I was going to have chemo until July, then radiation. What sucks about the radiation is I have to have it every day, EVERY DAY for 6 weeks! We don't live that close to the hospital, so we have to drive there every day, in between my poor husband trying to hold onto a job. He spoke to his boss last night, and the guy actually gave him a hard time and replied, 'when is this gonna be over?" Can you imagine? Others standing nearby and my husband were so taken aback, they all stared at him.

Before radiation, I will have the surgery. FIRST time someone spoke to me about surgery. He examined me, checked the chart and examined me again. He said this is much smaller than what is listed on the chart. So the tumor is shrinking more every week. He also checked with his hand under my arm, lymph nodes and said it feels normal to him. Third doctor to tell me they don't feel a thing under there. BUT, there is no way to tell if there is lymph node involvement until surgery.

So it appears the plan is more chemo, then surgery, then radiation, then Taxol. I seem to have some memory of my primary oncologist telling me Taxol would go on for years. I maybe confusing something here, as there IS so much to absorb, but I'm seeing him Monday and will ask.

The final decision from the hospital over the ever mounting bills is a payment plan for 6 months, then a formal agreement after that 6 months. So I have to pay $50 each to 4 different places every month for 6 months, then enter into some sort of another agreement. NONE of this would have happened without my Congressperson, Kirsten Gillibrand. She was 'cc'ed' on the letter, so I have to believe that without her push, they would be nailing me to the wall by now, for all these bills, which are approaching $7500.

The biggest break came from Amgen, which makes Neulasta, a shot you must have day after chemo to battle the effects it has on your body. I found out each shot cost $8,548.00 ! So right there, you've got $68,000+. They decided to enter into a rebate thingy with the hospital, so I don't pay for it. Imagine. $8,548 a shot. I think they could shoot pure liquid gold into me for less.

==============================
The people on that Yahoo group (a few) are irritating me again. They jump on every word you say and call you out. What did I do THIS time, right? OK, I saw a commerical for a Ted Koppel show Sunday night entitled "Living With Cancer" which I passed along, and also a guy on some show, who wrote a book about combatting the body's fights with disease and sickness with healthy organic foods, etc. So I passed that along. I was accused of passing along scams, hucksters, 'miracle cures', etc. It's nothing of the kind. ALL it is is different fruits, veg, etc. which fortify the body, detox, etc. It's not a cure, for chrissake, there isn't a CURE, it just is a way to make your body as strong as it can be while battling various sickness.

But some of these people are extraordinarily touchy. The second you post something they don't agree with, they are on you like white on rice. One person actually thanked another for being so vigilant (I loathe that word) about keeping stuff like that off the list. Sometimes I get the feeling they all want is to sit in a tightly closed box, cry all day and night about their sickness, take whatever meds the drs. give you, keep your mouth shut, don't do a damn thing that might help, and complain. Some of them seem to relish in being sick. Not that they WANT cancer, that's not what I'm saying, but there are people who are at their happiest when they can complain all day and night.

Well, sor-ree. Not me. Im bald as an eagle now, went through hideous chemo brain and effects this last time, but I'm going to live and beat this. I'm not going to sit around, wringing my hands, crying, poor poor me. It's here, deal with it. Im eating as much organic food as possible, including milk, drinking all kinds of fruit juices, taking flax oil, green tea capsules with ECGC, doing what I can. I'm also ordering Natural Cellular Liquid Zeolite. It's a supplement that helps the body detox and builds the immune system, which helps fight the cancer. What have I got to lose?

Anyway, that's it from here. We're gonna try to do some work around the house this weekend. We decided to go down to my mom on Mother's Day.

Que sera, sera.