Charlene's Story
July 29, 2010 - Genetic Testing & CAKE!!!
Thu, Jul 29 2010 by Charlene
Last night I attended a free seminar on Acupuncture and Massage for oncology patiients. Steve and I are big proponents for massage and I wanted to find out what makes it different for cancer patients. Boy, was I glad that I went, one of my biggest fears as of late is suffering from Lymphodema in my right arm after they remove my lymph nodes during surgery. I found out that massage therapists are not trained to deal with this right out of massage school and that you need to seek out someone with special training who knows how to massage that quadrant of your body so that the fluid will drain away from the affect area and towards other more healthy lymph nodes. Worth the price of admission... wait it was FREE!!! We also heard from a woman with her Masters degree in Acupuncture - honestly I have never really considered trying this, even though my PCP has recommended it to me on a couple of different occasions. This particular Acupuncuturist gives treatements right in the Cancer Center where I receive my chemo - so perhaps I willl give her a whirl - I will report more on that later.
I just got back from my consultation on the genetic testing I had done, to see if I was one of the 7% of women who's breast cancer is hereditary. DRUMROLL....... mine is NOT!!! Yay!!! We have to embrace these nuggets of good news as they come along as they are far and few between lately. This means that I am not at a higher risk for ovarian cancer and that my breast cancer was either random or environmentally enduced.
I also asked at the hospital why I crashed and burned on Monday when I came off the two meds they sent me home with post chemo. Apparently one was for nausea and the other was a steroid - which is why I felt like a rock star over the weekend. Seems as though the steroid was giving me a little "boost" energywise and when I came off them - the fatique set in. I have had to come home from work and take a nap in the recliner every day this week - I'm so not a napper.... but I guess I'd better get used to being one, I think it's unavoidable.
Cake..... o.k. so I have NOT lost my appetite, as a matter of fact I'm pretty sure it's increased (so not good for my waistline). I am trying desperately to make "good" choices if I have to eat mass quantities of food. However, I don't know if it's the metallic taste in my mouth or the chemo that is changing my taste buds, but lately all I can think about is CAKE!!! (Well sweets in general). I have NEVER really had a sweet tooth and honestly would take a loaf of bread over cake, or a salty snack over sugar any day..... but lately I find myself thinking about cake... very bizarre.... hopefully this is short lived...
To be continued....
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