Eventful week in CancerWorld. Continued into week 3 of chemo/radiation with
no major side effects other than fatigue and some scalp irritation. Controlling the Temodar nausea with the Prochlorperazine
and the Zofran, tho one oncologist thinks I might want to try backing off the
Zofran to see what happens. Some of the
landscaping in my neighborhood might not be too crazy about that move.
The most new news is that I had my first sessions at the
Center for Life, which is run by UNM’s Dept. of Integrative Medicine. This is where you get your non-traditional
treatments like acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation, and all kinds of
herbal remedies like green tea and other stuff.
The CFL is run by Dr. Arti Prasad, who is highly respected in this
field. (They get her to do TED talks
etc.)
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Dr. Arti Prasad, UNM Center for Life (click!) |
My meeting with Dr. Prasad was great. It lasted over an hour, I learned a lot, and I
left with a bunch of new supplements and an appointment for my first
acupuncture session ever. The supps
included a probiotic (“good bacteria” for digestion), a CoQ10 supp (keep plasma
levels up and ticker going), and one that’s 500 mg of turmeric plus some other
stuff and is an anti-inflammatory plus a “safe for use with radiation”
antioxidant. They also pointed me toward
someone who sells a product made with wheat germ extract that’s supposed to be
a great anti-oxidant, and also safe to use during cancer treatments, but the
salesperson was too oily so I didn't buy any of it.
On Tuesday evening after Labor Day I had my first acupuncture
session ever, with Dr. Ingrid Reyna at the UNM Center for Life. She stuck me everywhere – head, face, hands,
legs (wear shorts next time), and belly.
Felt one or two pricks while getting stuck but mostly I didn’t feel
anything. It all must have worked
because I dozed off about five minutes after she left the room. That American Indian flute music is damn
relaxing! I drifted in and out of
slumberland for the next 30 minutes or so.
Unfortunately I was awoken too often by my own snoring. I thought I had broken the acupuncture rules
by falling asleep, but the doc told me it was OK.
The real highlight of the week was when our dear old friends
Sue and Mike McNeil made the trip from Columbus, OH to be our house guests over
Labor Day weekend. I forgot how much
sauce we go thru when those two are in town!
Fortunately, I’m observing under-21 drinking rules (well, mostly), so we
managed to make it thru the weekend without pouring the cooking sherry. Actually, Sue made a mega-batch of her secret
recipe sangria (spoiler: peach brandy and something called “Liquor 43” are two
key ingredients) and a gay time in the pool was had by all. (Can I still say that?)
Love all the visitors – next up are Judy and Kelly for Balloon
Fiesta! It is in this spirit that Pam,
Caroline, The Cisco Kid, Pancho, and I leave you till the next time:
GOODBYE AMIGOS! SEE
YOU SOON! HAHA!
