This is my week to get me back up to speed, my Dad back on track, help out Mike and get our home ahead of the curve operationally speaking. Mike has had a huge amount of work on his mother's estate and father's behalf this week, and also with his business over the past two weeks. So me being back on target for handling our household operations is really a good thing. We just had lunch with my dad, who is peaceful and content and throws in a joke once in a while, just keeps on going. He loves ice cream and watching the Weather Channel. His apartment has a huge window overlooking a lake, and he watches the Florida afternoon storms build up and pass by.
 |
| view from our porch, over my red toenail, laptop is on my lap |
1. Headscarves. You want square and cotton, not the elegant silk Hermes ones. 30 or 31 inches are perfect. I bought seven online. I have one that is 36 inches, too much material but I use it anyway. As with any shopping, I am attracted to buying the patterns - paisley or French Provencal. But you can only wear them with solid shirts. So you do need some solid ones to go with those dramatic Lily tunics. Light colors look too washed out. My skin seems to be getting yellower, and I definitely have dark circles under my eyes, so a little color is nice. I have some pink blush I put on, but I am not a makeup person. I am afraid if I put on mascara, my eyelashes will fall out when I clean it off (they are getting thinner.)
So the ones I wear the most are the 30.5" cotton blue/beige paisley, and the 30.5" cotton pink.
You know to get a liner for your scarves or wig. G suggested cutting off the sleeves of t-shirts and using that as a liner, just pull it over your bald head. It works perfectly. So comfortable, absorbs the perspiration. Washable. Do it.
While you are at it, you will need something really comfy to wear sleeping. Turbans. Get one or two terrycloth or cotton turbans that are so comfortable you will sleep in them. Your head gets cold at night. I ordered these online also.
2. Dinners. Delivered by friends. OH MY GOODNESS this is such a gift. Chemo Day 1 and Day 2 you do have energy so you could cook dinner, but I was dropping things and my mind wasn't thinking anywhere near linearly. Then Days 3 and 4 I was exhausted and getting to where the only food I wanted to be near was chicken broth or Gatorade (not my husband's favorite dinner choice.) The leftovers we ate on the weekend, and weekends are easier for my husband or dear friends to prepare food. Then Days 7 and 8, dinners delivered let me focus on a little walking and acupuncture and healing during the day, not cooking. What a gift. I will cook dinners for anyone I ever hear of who goes through chemo. What a gift.
Also, you don't want to smell food cooking on Days 3 to 5, another blessing from friends bringing over dinners. So swallow your pride, let others show they care for you, and ask for dinners delivered to your home by 5 PM the day of chemo and for 7 days afterward. Why by 5 PM? Because people forget, or run late, and you want to know if you are getting dinner that night or if your husband has to run out pick something up. Ask for disposable containers, you don't want to clean and sort and return eight days of containers now do you? Freeze leftovers, you will use them.
3. Water. Stock up on water, straws, something to make it taste different (good) because you want to drink lots of water, keep your cleansing organs happy, keep the kidney's osmosis gradient happy, wash through that bladder, let there be lots of fluids in your body so anything it wants to flush out will just flush out! I like adding some fresh lemon juice, as I think that makes the kidneys happy too. I have added POM pomegranate juice, Boathouse juices, pineapple juice, mango juice, black, green, and herb teas (peppermint, ginger). Cooperate with your body.
4. Resting spot. Get a cozy quilt or blanket that you will nap under, on a sofa outside your bedroom. Find the soothing music channel (here it's 434) on your radio or television. My heart rate increases for the week of chemo, so there are times when the soothing music really helps. Get socks for your feet (they get cold, and I have NEVER had cold feet.)
5. First Aid. Make sure you have Bandaids and antibiotic ointment just in case you get a cut, you want to keep it clean. Have a digital thermometer, moisture cream that is for sensitive skin (I got Cetaphil, the night creams I have used for years were stinging), foot cream (keep them happy), and whatever your doctor lets you take for pain (Advil) and digestive issues (stool softeners, stool encouragers) and bioflora (BioKplus 1285). I also have Biotene for mouthwash and eyes, in case they get too dry. Dr. M. doesn't want me taking any supplements other than Calcium, D-3, fiber, and Magnesium. He wants me taking L-Glutamine for 5 days after Chemo, which helps ameliorate side effects to your nervous system. You can get it at Whole Foods or Walgreens. I felt a bit manic about keeping my skin free of cuts and moisturized, oh well.
6. Get a few comedy movies on hand. I also have two seasons of Seinfeld episodes. Each night it is so nice to end the evening with Seinfeld, which makes us laugh and laugh. And I KNOW the episode, I KNOW Kramer is going to make a ridiculous face or George will make a stupid comment, but you still laugh. Then we go upstairs, read a devotional, and fall asleep with hope and smiles. Diversionary tactics are okay. Just switched devotionals. I have read Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest for years. Now am reading Sarah Young's Jesus Calling.
7. Buy your wig ahead of time, so it is a positive experience. And can be! Ritzy Rags in Orlando is fantastic. Do not get natural hair, too hard to take care of. Get shorter and more colorful (highlights) than your regular hair style. People told me my wig looked better than my normal hair. How ever should I respond to that?
8. I set up acupuncture for two times per week throughout the chemo. It works for me, Dr. M. said it was okay to do during chemo. It has been great letting the acupuncture help my body recuperate after each chemo. Gets all the organs back in balance (especially kidney, liver, heart, digestive system). Helps with nausea. Helps with nerve and muscle pain. Strengthens the immune system and drainage. And even reduces my hot flashes. Worth it everyone. Find a acupuncturist who agrees that chemo and western medicine is good at some point, and therefore will support you one hundred percent in your choices for doing both the Western chemo and the Eastern acupuncture.
9. Freeze a few dinners, complete ones you can pop in the microwave and you have meat, starch, vegetable. You'll use them at some point, believe me. Right now I have a frozen chicken with rice and asparagus dinner and a frozen pot roast with barley and peas dinner. Probably for Week #2 of chemo, or if someone forgets to bring dinner the night they signed up for.
10. Clothes. Make sure you have loose fitting pants and t-shirt type tops. I have a port in my arm, not chest. For the week after chemo, I don't want to wear sleeves, I want short sleeves so there isn't any fabric over the port. I get cold so I wear socks and a sweater most days (its summer in Florida). And as for tops, your stomach is bloated for two or three days, so you want loose fitting tops then.
11. Have positive quotes, bible verses, books to inspire you all around. You will want to pick them up and fill your thoughts with them from time to time. And keep all the cards and notes and emails in one basket, so you can pick them up when you need lifting up. I have done this. If I am starting to feel down, I curl up on the sofa, take the cards and emails and letters out of the basket and read them one by one.
12. Set up transportation to and from chemo and to/from doctor's appointments ahead of time. I couldn't drive home from chemo, and I didn't think it was safe for me to be driving for several days after chemo.
13. Watermelon tastes great to me the week of chemo. And asparagus (natural gentle diuretics). As does lemon sorbet, and lemon squeezed into filtered water (I have a PUR water filter in the refrigerator). When I am not wanting any food (Thursday PM to Saturday PM), I sip chicken broth or eat a few almonds or part of a banana or a baked potato. They work for me.
14. Hand sanitizer. Keep your hands clean, wash them a lot and be strong willed about not getting around germs or bacteria unnecessarily. Don't shake hands with people, don't visit with people who sneeze or sound like they are sick, and don't go out in crowds. Just don't. This is only for a few months of your life, you can live without movies in theaters or flying on airplanes. Stop giving in. Stop rationalizing. You can.
15. During the Chemo treatment itself. I know you have heard this before, but I will say it again. Be positive and optimistic about chemo. Go to the doctor's office knowing you are a team with the doctor, and that the chemo IS HEALING YOU. Visualize however you want, I seem to do a different one each time. Pacmen or cool running water or light zapping cancer cells. To prevent mouth sores, I was told to eat ice chips during the chemo infusion. To prevent hand or foot CIPN (Chemically induced peripheral neuropathy) you want to keep your feet and hands cold during chemo infusion, so don't wear socks or put your blanket over your feet or hands. The point is to reduce the amount of chemo drugs to your mouth, feet and hands. I have seen photos of patients with ice packs on their feet. My chemo lounge is cold enough, so I didn't need that. I take in my IPAD and listen to a sermon, then relaxing music. I need a sweater in there, and a blanket. Afterward, it feels so good to go outside in the Florida heat, just like a big hug.
16. Nails. I don't want to loose my nails, so I broke my thirty two year habit of having red toenails. No nail polish and no nail polish remover. Stopped that after Chemo #2. I kept toenails and fingernails short. Brush on orange strengthening oil every day. No pedicures or manicures (germs).
17. Avoid Crowds (GERMS). This sounds obvious to me, but it isn't to everyone I know. Your immune system, along with your whole body, is fighting a war. A World War. Don't you want to help the good guys win? Be gentle on your body. Get enough sleep, get some sort of exercise every day, and stay away from germs. Wipe off the handle of the grocery cart, watch movies on TV, stay off airplanes. What trip is so important that can't wait six months? As for exercise, there were days, around Chemo #6, where my exercise was one walk around the block. I felt that was okay. That week right after chemo, I was gentle on my body, let it heal.
18. Friends and Family. Rely on others. Friends and family. Go ahead and hang up your Superwoman Cape. Let others plan the holidays, feed the dog, wash the dishes. Go to lunch with who you want to be with. If someone for some reason isn't supportive of you right now, don't spend time with them. This is YOUR time to heal.You will have time to help others later, because you will be healed and healthy and overflowing with energy and love. Just not now.
Bottom line, you can do it! If I can do this, you can do this!
It isn't forever, this is just something that you do to heal the cancer that was found in you. You want the cancer gone for good, so you do what they say, the time tested plan that kills the cancer.
It will work. Many many others have been right where you are, and they are now 5, 10, 15, 20 year survivors.
That will be you, God has promised.
