Part Six

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.) 

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!