You vill follow zee rules und you vill like it - Updated 1/8/18 6:00pm

No date, just musing on the things you took for granted when you weren't on chemo. Dr.Vogelzang's clinic put us through an hour of video and discussion with two nurses about what to expect and what changes. Plus a fat binder with all the other details.


  1. No caffeine. Seriously? 
  2. Not enough alcohol allowed to make up for #1.
  3. Protected sex. Geez. Haven't had to do that since college.
  4. No open mouth kissing.
  5. Sanitize  the toilet seat before and after use. And flush 2x to get rid of chemicals.
  6. No metal silverware, plastic only, unless you like the taste of metal and don't mind losing your affection for that food.
  7. No red meat. Breaking this one.
  8. No raw fruits and vegetables.
  9. They never mentioned don't leave pee around where someone could step in it.
  10. Exercise at least 15 minutes a day. Don't mind that.
  11. Drink 1 gallon of liquids a day. Not so tough, but really, not one cup of coffee?
  12. Stay away from websites touting cancer diets. Eat lots of protein. And I'm finding that 1 cup of raisin bran isn't always enough to keep things moving.
  13. Eat 6 times a day, small portions. No raw fruits or vegetables...frozen, cooked or canned due to the microbes and chemicals on the skin.
  14. You vill lose your hair. I call that a win if it includes back hair.
  15. No shaving with sharp objects.  Ugh hate electic shavers. I would like to try that Braun Series 9, but settled for a 5. Excellent shaver.
  16. No accupunture.
  17. Get some bag balm and lip balm. Not enough we have 10% humidity, but I'm drying from the inside out too.
  18. You can and should get your vaccines current - especially flu and pneumonia.  You can do it during your chemo cycle too.
  19. Avoid crowds and kids. Don't get sick.
  20. No massages or mani-pedis. Not a problem. Don't spend any time in Chinatown anyway.
  21. Rinse your mouth four times a day with a pint of water and tsp each of salt and baking soda. Try not to spew it on the mirror when you gag on it.
  22. No puppy kisses on the mouth.☹
  23. Take advice from your doctor. Everyone's body, cancer, and treatment is different. Still, read Lance Armstrong's first book and compare to my experience so far. He was tortured, but there have been big strides since then.
  24. Meditate and do hathayoga. Hmm... Been 43 years since I did TM and yoga twice a day. Then I got a job. Learned yoga from Richard Hittleman on "Yoga for Life" on TV back then. https://youtu.be/QQs2lu7
  25. Laugh 15 minutes a day. Hope I dont have to spend a whole day with Dr. Kassahun. He has no sense of humor.
  26. Treat nicks, cuts, burns, sores and infections like they are life and death matters.  They are. Use antibacterial soap, Neosporin, and clean dressings liberally.
  27. I'll add one of my own. Eat yogurt that has 5 live cultures like Siggi's Icelandic yogurt (skyr), not that Dannon crap. Chemo and antibiotics kill all the good bugs and that's how you end up with the hershey squirts. I eat a slightly ripe banana, the ones with some green on the skin. See #8? Wash the outside of the banana with antibacterial soap first for absolute protection; stuff can get on your hands and transfer.
  28. Not a rule bit recommendation. See the blog entry for 1/7/18 Here We Go Again. Make a go-bag. Contents I included are on that page.
  29. Getting radiation treatments?   Eat blueberries. But not dried or freah! Blueberry jam, extract, or syrup maybe.



Popular posts from this blog

Getting back on track

Cobra finally approved . Of course the woman who has to submit the authorization request for the lymphedema pump only works Tues-Thurs, so lose another week getting this thing.  Every couple of hours I have to try to manually massage my torso, thighs, hips and back to move the lymph to ease the pressure. Sometimes it actually helps. Decided to go back to oncologist and get a dose of Taxol just to hold off the cancer till ny other treatment is ready. Really didn't want to, but it's been too long with doing nothing. We will see if he actually has an argument in favor of Keytruda or he was just grasping at straws. Other treatment is outside the box, but I have seen the proof of it knocking out cancer in 6 weeks regardless of type of cancer. When it works for me I will be even more comfortable putting people ... in touch with the representative for it and share the proof. I expect to start that the week after this. After the treatment, then back to healing up from cance...
Read more

Just couldn't get through the week 12/21-22/2017.

Image
December 21, 2017                                                                      Back to In the Beginning Just couldn't get through the week without another doctor's visit. Noticed that the drain in my side is red and tender.  Well, 'inflamed' is more like it.  I'd post a picture, but wouldn't want you to barf on your keyboard or phone.  A bit later, feel something on the inside of my cheek.  Aw crap... They told us about this in the video. A mouth sore. Just feels like when you bite the inside of your cheek and it gets all rough with a noticeable difference in feeling.  Not a pain or an itch, although closer to the latter, because you always feel like 'worrying it' (to use an archaic meaning) with your tongue.  No fever, so I think that's a good thing.  Mikki had ...
Read more

Start again

Started taking CBD oil by capsule so I know what the dose is. Probably not a quick pain fix, but of you don't start sometime.... At least I'm now dressed for bike riding . Lymphodema therapist recommended wearing bike shorts to increase compression in my midsection. Stupid ibuprofen didn't work last night, just added to my heartburn. Finally this morning, took all the wraps off my legs and by 1pm the pain subsided enough to let me get an hour's sleep. So seems most of the pain is from lymph being pushed up. The pump coming tomorrow hopefully will take care of that. It squeezes the lymph up your legs and pelvic region to the upper lymph nodes. Like being inside a snake that's moving up your leg. Went to see oncologist today . Said I didn't qualify for any trials because my liver numbers were off the chart. His only other options are low dose of chemo...which probably won't do anything. Yttrium chemo shot right into the liver to kill the cancer there ...
Read more