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Category Archives: chemo

brave

13 Thursday May 2010

Posted by azahar in cancer, chemo, hospitals, life stuff, tapas

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

cancer, chemo port, hospital

Busy hospital/health care day. First an early morning trip to the health centre to get my bloodwork done in time for my next oncology appointment (May 24th). Then to the hospital later this afternoon to get the chemo port flushed. The blood test is no big deal – other than not being able to have coffee when I get up – as it’s just a short walk to the health centre and I don’t have any scary memories attached to the place. But we all know how I feel about the hospital! Which is why I am so pleased to report that this will be the third time I’ve gone to get my port flushed all by myself. Okay, I still go in a taxi (feels safer somehow), but I time it so that afterwards I can meet Nog after his last class of the day, which is about a ten minute walk from the hospital, and then we go for a drink and maybe a tapa and have a nice walk home. Pretty good, eh?

In fact, I think I deserve a medal!  🙂

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falling apart

10 Tuesday Nov 2009

Posted by azahar in cancer, chemo, diet & nutrition, health & happiness, hospitals, rants, wtf?

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

cancer, chemo, doctors, hospitals, rants

old car Been feeling like I should be put out to pasture…

Seriously, I feel like an old wreck whose parts aren’t working properly anymore and there aren’t any replacements. Every day it’s something else. Well okay, not every day, but it sometimes seems that way. I mean, after getting over the worst effects of the chemo I developed quite painful neuropathy in my feet (less so in my hands) that will only get worse as it gets colder out. And now my right foot has a new problem in the arch and it feels like I am walking on a golfball. Ouch. Oh, and then I found out I had a hernia – remember that? – which erupted a couple of weeks ago and has still not quite healed after being sliced open to drain. What else? Well, there are the regular bouts of tachycardia that nobody can explain, as well as still getting quite winded after even the slightest bit of physical exertion. And then my mammogram results were dodgy and they want me to have another one in six months. Then the other night I was watching TV and suddenly my vision went all distorted and it was like looking through a flashing prism, which scared the hell out of me but luckily only lasted about 15 minutes. And the latest thing was when I was eating a mushroom on Sunday evening and a huge chunk of my back tooth fell out. Just crumbled and fell out, like in one of those anxiety dreams, except I wasn’t dreaming. Upon further inspection I saw that both my upper back teeth are almost totally black. I mean, wtf?

All of which is compounded by averaging only about four hour’s sleep a night. I feel like I’m sleepwalking most of the time and always feel tired and achy inside. And I worry that maybe this means the cancer has come back.

So there. Rant over. It’s just that sometimes I wonder if I’m ever going to feel good again, you know? And at the same time I’m happy to feel even this good after the hell that was chemo. Pretty mixed up, eh?

And today I’m off for blood tests. Heigh ho…

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stupid things people say

25 Sunday Oct 2009

Posted by azahar in cancer, chemo, friends, hospitals, humour

≈ 30 Comments

duck billed platitude

My list of the top things people should not say to cancer patients (some pinched from elsewhere ‘cos I can totally relate!) ~ what next

The other day Colon Club member what next wrote a post called “the stupid things that people say” and included a very good list of stupid comments and witty responses. And I enjoyed it so much that I’m stealing it. 🙂

I find I do get annoyed with the constant platitudes. So sue me. I’ve lost quite a few “friends” this past year and a half because they felt uneasy about my way of coping and especially about my not needing or wanting what they felt like giving me. I know that some of you will say that people mean well and are often just at a loss as to what to say. But frankly, the best thing to say in this sort of situation is … “oh dear, I don’t know what to say!” To which the person with cancer can simply reply… “That’s okay, you don’t have to say anything”. Or in my case, “That’s okay, you don’t have to say anything, just send money”. 😉

You can read what next’s list below…

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a year later…

12 Monday Oct 2009

Posted by azahar in cancer, change, chemo, diet & nutrition, fitness, friends, health & happiness, hope, hospitals

≈ 46 Comments

past-present-future

It was just over a year ago that I was told my cancer had become inoperable, that they could give me chemo to slow down the inevitable, and that without treatment I had maybe a year to live. I later found out that this idiot oncologist hadn’t even read my biopsy results, she had just assumed (as the surgeons had done) that the “buckshot” mess found on my peritoneum during my second operation was cancer –  it turned out to be old scar tissue. Anyhow, this is one of the many reasons she is now my ex-oncologist.

Since then I have had another recurrence, have gone through chemo again (April-July) and am now living on a “wait & watch” basis, with scans being done every three months…

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land squid (mammogram)

01 Thursday Oct 2009

Posted by azahar in cancer, chemo, health & happiness, hospitals, life stuff

≈ 11 Comments

mammogram

I saw my oncologist yesterday and got the low-down on my situation.  Well, sort of. Which is that I am on “wait and watch” until the next CT scan. I have another appointment with the onc in November … and that’s all I know. Oh, except that I have a hernia from one of my previous ops and might have to have another operation for that (??!). Seriously, I was just told this like it was nothing and was asked  – “You mean the surgeons never rescheduled with you after your last appointment?” (in January).  And no, they hadn’t. And then the onc suddenly told me I had to lose weight because of the hernia. Like duh. She never once mentioned this was important in terms of having cancer, which I believe it is. So I told her I was on the case, going to the gym every day and changing my diet …

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