Dropping a Few

Lately, I have put a lot on here about LadyBug's cancer. I've come to realize though, that there is another word some people tend to avoid: "diet." I recently visited my doctor to find out why I was having nausea. He sent me for a sonogram that showed I have sludge in my gall bladder. A blood test also showed that though my cholesterol was a little high, my triglycerides were VERY high....496, to be exact! That means a stroke or heart attack in no time.

    

So, I started a diet. One thing I decided early on, though, was that if I was bored with my food, I would choose the stroke. If eating cardboard was the only option, the heart attack would be welcome. Well, let me tell you one of the most overlooked facts of dieting: Chili Peppers have ZERO fat, and ZERO cholesterol, AND ZERO sugar! They are one of the most heart-healthy things you can eat!  Fact number two: Dark Chocolate in small amounts REDUCES cholesterol, AND blood pressure, along with boosting your bodies insulin reception!

   

So I watch fat grams in food, choosing the lowest choice every time. I watch cholesterol and sugar and carbs, too. I will admit that I still don't exercise like I should, which is to say, not at all. But in the last month, I have lost 20 lbs.! Imagine  what I could lose if I was exercising! And the best thing is, I still enjoy my food. I will admit, I don't count sodium. Maybe I should, and maybe I will some day. But I don't salt my food--ever. I do add salsa. I do add Cayenne. But no salt. So I think I probably do okay there.

   

The thing is, I can't take care of LadyBug if I am in a hospital getting my gallbladder out. And I can't take care of her if I am suffering a stroke or whatever. So now I'm dropping pounds. I even punched a new hole in my belt!

   

Only one thing worries me: What do I do when all my clothes are too big?

The Red Devil

LadyBug started the first of her chemo sessions today. She recieved almost two hours of intravenous solutions containing Adriamycin--nicknamed the "Red Devil," because of its red color and its horrible side effects--and
Cytoxan. "Cytoxan slows down, or stops the growth of cancer cells." (1) 

  

This was followed by a quick saline drip to clear the lines and clean the port, as well as add some fluid to her system. She should begin feeling the effects of this mix of drugs in about two days. She will have nausea, and fatigue. Within three weeks she will begin losing hair, a little at first, and then in clumps.

After her treatment was done they gave her a shot. I honestly don't remember what the nurse said the shot was, but she said some people get "bone pain" from it. She said if this happens and gets unbearable, to call the doctor. LadyBug said she has already experienced one symptom: The red medicine of Adriamycin causes your urine to turn pink or orange.... I knew you wanted to know that.

  

Her treatments will be based on the two week spread, but they are doing what they call the "Dose Dance." Chemo treatments are normally spread out three weeks apart. In the Dose Dance, they are two weeks apart, but the patient's body will drop in its white blood cell count. This means that while she is doing treatments, LadyBug will be VERY susceptible to infection. It also means that if she contracts an infection, there is no wait before it hits her. We must monitor all of these symptoms carefully. If any symptoms get out of control, we need to get her to the doctor immediately. If her blood count is too low the next time she is supposed to have a treatment, they wait until the following week to do it. This means her "8 week" treatment could just as easily be 12 weeks.

  

After these four treatments, she will begin her sessions with Taxol, the last of the drugs she will receive. "Taxol is made from yew trees. It fights cancer by interfering with cancer cell division. Taxol can be used to treat any stage of breast cancer.... When given in low doses it has mild side effects and is well-tolerated." (2)

I cannot look at this series of treatments as being 20 weeks, 16 weeks, etc. I see that we have two sets of four. And for the harder one, LadyBug is 25% done already. We have three more to go. As long as I look at it that way, it seems much more manageable. Now she just has to decide how long she waits before buzzing off her hair. This is one of the things she is most anxious about. Lucky for us, she has her a wig that her doctor's office supplied for her, along with some hats. Keep her in your prayers!

(1), (2)breastcancer.about.com

LadyBug's New DO!

 LadyBug cut her hair this week. She donated an 11 inch braid to Locks of Love. We figured this way, when she starts losing her hair, she won't miss quite so much!

  

Everyone comments that it looks cute, and makes her look younger, so she is okay, even though she really misses it right now.

She starts chemo this Thursday, so it won't be long now before she starts losing her hair. She's not happy about it, but we will do what is necessary.

Happy New Year Everyone!

News from the Front

We have had an interesting week. We went up on Tuesday to use some movie tickets we had been given by the hospital. We saw the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, and LOVED it! We have the audio books (in two different versions) and the written books, and our whole family has always enjoyed these wonderful tales! We spent the night at Snowman's house, visiting with him and his wife, LadyBug's sister. We also had dinner at their place.

   

Wednesday we went further north to the hospital where LadyBug was to have her Port-a-Cath installed. She got the Power Port put in which will help with all injections, IV's, and blood tests for her chemo treatments. This is an out-patient procedure, but we still ended up being in the hospital for almost six hours!

   

The next day, we spent the gift-card my sister Inklings gave us (thanks, sis!). We figured LadyBug won't be able to eat much some of the time while on chemo, so we got a juicer so she can get some nutrients in liquid form. We also got ZeldaPrincess a CD, and season 1 of a favorite TV show DVD. It has been kinda different pushing LadyBug around Wal-Mart in a wheelchair for a couple of weeks now!

   

So today, we had a visit with Dr. Chemo. He was going to start treatments today, and LadyBug even had blood tests to make sure she was healthy enough to begin. After verifying that she was in good health, he asked if she had any further questions. She told him she had been reading the book he gave her and wondered why she had been diagnosed with this particular form of cancer when symptoms pointed at another.

   

He explained biopsies and pathology reports, and then asked her what symptoms she had that made her ask the question. She told him all the things that made her wonder about the diagnosis.

  

After some discussion, he told her she had "raised doubts in his mind." He says he thinks we should now try a different treatment called Adriamycin, which is nicknamed, "The Red Devil." Nice name, huh?

  

This is a harsher, more aggressive form of chemo. She will no longer just have 6 treatments over 18 weeks, but 8 treatments over 16 weeks. The regimen will be more difficult than previously planned, and she will wait until next week to start. Then she will finish 1 week earlier than originally thought.
   

One source says the side-effects include, "hair loss, short term memory loss, nausea, loss of appetite, stomach pains, loss of sleep, sweats, mouth sores, watery eyes, neuropathy, and on and on.....nasty, nasty stuff."

  

LadyBug is very nervous now, even more than before, but if this is what it takes to get healthy and stay that way, it is simply what must be. Your continued prayers are greatly appreciated.

   

On a personal note, my diet continues, much to my chagrin. At times, I am ready to chuck it all and die young, but I think about what LadyBug is going to be going through, and realize a little sacrifice on my part is nothing. One good thing, though: in the two weeks I have been going, I have already lost 15 lbs.! Not bad for just watching what I eat. I'm not even getting much exercise yet! Guess I can keep it up for a while longer....

  

Take Care!

Merry Christmas!

Let it...Well, You Know

Two Words: SNOW DAY! *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

    

Our school is closed today because of the incredible amount of snow that fell in the last 24 hours. I don't remember when this last happened. We aren't afraid of snow here, and it take a ton of snow to shut us down. People here will drive as long as they can get the vehicle to move. Our concert is today, so we will see what happens. Merry White Christmas, everyone!

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Full Pardon

Today was a bitter-sweet day for me. It was the Christmas program for my prison choir. Things didn't go as smoothly as they could have, but over all it went quite well, and we were all pleased with the outcome.

  

Sadly, however, it was my last day at the prison. With LadyBug's looming chemo/radiation treatments and the possibility of further classes at the college, I told the bishop months ago that they would need to replace me. This bishopric is from a neighboring stake, though, and I always felt strange being a part of their stake, etc., so this needed to happen anyway. They should have had someone trained by now, but everyone is too scared to commit, and the few who have agreed only made it to training before backing out.

  

I told the brethren today, however how much I have come to love serving them, and that I pray for their well-being all the time. My personal beliefs have been challenged so much working there. I have come to see more fully the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in the lives of men who need it so desperately. However heinous the crimes, these men have been an important part of my life for the last two years and I will be forever altered because of my time serving them. 

   

Today was also our High School Women's performance of Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols. We performed this in an amazing, historic hall up north, then in another such hall in the town 15 minutes away. This was an incredible opportunity, and I also consider that we have been blessed to have the privilege of singing this incredible piece of music in such wonderful venues. Needless to say, I am on a musical high right now, not to mention a spiritual one. My emotions are right on my sleeve, and I find that even writing this post, I am getting misty-eyed. I have the best job in the world (now if I could just get paid more)!

   
Take care!

Dr. Chemo Speaks

So LadyBug visited Dr. Chemo today. He says she will have six treatments, spread out three weeks apart, for a total of 18 weeks. This throws my original information off a bit. She will not be done with treatments until mid-May at the very earliest. As soon as she is done with chemo, she will begin radiation treatments, which will last for five weeks. This means LadyBug will be continuing this well into June. After this is all done, she will finish up reconstruction. We are looking at the possibility that she may not be done with everything until this time of year 2011, or later into 2012. 

   

In the mean time, although she is recovering nicely, she is still not ready to go back to work. I definitely do not want her rushing into it and ending up worse, so we will wait until the doctor clears her and she feels ready. We are not sure how we are going to manage on a single income until this happens, though. The bill collectors sure aren't worried about this. We had someone call from the anesthesiologist's office yesterday asking us to start paying on their bill. LadyBug informed them that she hasn't even been back to work yet. They made a note of that, thankfully, so maybe we will get a grace period before they really get anxious.

   

Most of the costs are being paid by my insurance, which I cannot complain about too much, since it is taken care of, but I am still upset, because my coverage has gone down while my costs have gone up. Several years ago, my insurance would have made it so we only paid a small amount. Makes me wish we had gotten the cancer insurance. The costs at the time seemed ridiculous, but one teacher was able to have them remove most of the useless stuff, making his costs much easier to manage. Oh well, live and learn.

   

To answer one question, yes, LadyBug will be losing her hair. We don't know exactly what other side-effects she may suffer, since some of those vary by individual, but we have a whole folder full of literature about this that Dr. Chemo gave us. Knowledge is power, so I will be doing some reading soon.

  

On a completely unrelated note, I have been experimenting with almost every meal I have cooked lately. I am trying to avoid all the bad stuff that can kill me. The other stuff is boring though, and I'd rather die young than live bored, so I try new things all the time. Tonight I made a sort of Stir-Fry (using Olive Oil for healthier cooking). It was almost exclusively vegetarian, except for the egg I added at the last minute. 

   

I used about a teaspoon or two of "Chinese Extra Hot Mustard" which sounded exciting, except that I've tasted hotter mustard on Pretzels! I also added Srirachi sauce, ginger, and curry. The resulting dish, served on brown rice, that being the healthier choice, was a little spicy. A little. Very little. I've made spicier spaghetti (no, really). It had a nice flavor, though. Not the best stuff I've ever had, but better than some food I've had in restaurants. What I really need is to get my sister Delirious to send me some ideas (okay, ANY of my siblings that have tasty, yet healthy meal ideas!). I am convinced I can make this healthier diet work, but only IF I don't end up wanting to baste our DOG with butter and garlic sauce!!!

   

Well, one thing for sure...I can always tell if I ate a good healthy meal, because in no time, I will still be STARVING! I am told that after a short amount of time, those pangs will diminish. Hmmm....wonder how soon THAT will be! Right now, I don't know how soon I'll be able to look another salad in the eye. Wait, if salads HAD eyes, they might taste better.... better be off to bed, I must be starting to hallucinate!

A Stitch in...Well, Nevermind

LadyBug visited Dr. Plastics today. This is the first office visit in a month that hasn't required a hospital stay! He said she is healing well and everything looks good. He will wait until she has recovered a bit more before continuing the reconstruction process. And he removed her tape/bandages, so now it is just healing for a while.

   

She has her appointment with the oncologist tomorrow. We have not met Dr. Chemo yet, so I will post the outcomes of that visit afterward.

  

On a positive note, anyone who will be in our state capital, at a certain square this Saturday, come see my choir perform Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols! We have been preparing for some time now (ZeldaPrincess has a solo), and look forward to singing in the smaller venue next to its more famous neighbor (How's THAT for being vague?)! FHL at 4:00, AH at 6:30, NVC at 8:00.