Archive for the General Posts Category

Ring the Bell!!!

Ring the Bell!!

 

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Finally ringing the Bell

Here are pics from the celebration of my last radiation treatment….

Ringing the bell

Wonderful Wigs for a new look

Wigs and Hats for People Taking Chemo



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Thank you, Mary Ellen Locher, for my new look

After I lost my hair from the chemo, I started wearing fun hats and brightly colored hats. I wanted a wig though, for those times when I wanted to look my best.

My daughter found out that they give away wigs and hats and scarves to women who have lost their hair from chemo, at the Mary Ellen Locher breast cancer center in Chattanooga.

We went over there after seeing my oncologist and I picked out this really attractive brown wig. I liked it and liked the style pretty well but it wasn’t exactly the look I wanted so we went back a few weeks later and discovered a blond wig that looked like it was made for me. It fit great and looked great.

I felt so much better with that wig on. Thank you, Mary Ellen Locher. You did a wonderful thing starting that donation service. I could not really afford wigs and now I have two that look great for any occasion.

There is a painted portrait of Mary Ellen in the entrance area of the cancer center and I think she just looks so beautiful. The whole place is decorated in such peaceful colors and it is just a warm feeling place to be. Thank you, Mary Ellen Locher.

Platelet Count and Radiation

A break from chemo but radiation starts now



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Steroids to Raise Blood Counts Works but….

Well, I was supposed to start radiation a little sooner than I actually did. I couldn’t start on schedule because my platelet count was low. I had a blood transfusion and then they put me on steriods for 5 days. The steroids gave me more energy, of course, but coming back off of them is hard because the fatique is so much worse then.

It worked though. Taking the steroids as well as eating as much red meat as I could, adding red wine at night, and eating stuff that helps build blood like liver, etc. and my platelet count was up over the 100,000 mark within a few days.

I wonder if that might be part of why my legs started hurting so bad around then.

That has been the worst thing I’ve had to deal with in all of this. They hurt so badly that I couldn’t sleep or even rest. My daughters all massaged them with these really good massage oils called Badger. It would feel so good while they were doing it but then the pain would come back.

When I told the nurses about it, they suggested I keep a bottle of yellow mustard by my bed and squirt a little in my mouth each time I woke with the pain. It did seem to help but, like the massage, the relief did not last long.

I finally decided to try going back on the L-Glutamine over the weekend. My daughter, Neva, had read some research that said I might not out to take it with radiation and my oncologist said it would be ok to stop but now I’m wondering if that’s why my legs are hurting so much worse.

Will update the blog as one of my daughters finds time. Hopefully, I will get some relief from the leg pain soon.