I’m generally a private person, sharing personal details of my life only with my closest friends and family.  So the idea of a blog focused exclusively on ME is a bit uncomfortable.  But what I’ve discovered since my recent diagnosis is that I have many wonderful people watching out for me.  I have friends and family and friends of family and friends of friends who are offering up prayers for me, sending me uplifting notes, sharing humor to brighten my day and regularly checking on my overall well-being.  The power of that kindness and concern is great.  I try to be a thank-you note writer, but in recent weeks I’ve found that to be a daunting task.  I’ve received so much from so many.  It was suggested to me that I start a blog about how I’m doing so that those who are keeping tabs on me – near and far – can check on me without feeling that they might be disturbing me.  (I am never disturbed by kind and well-meaning inquiries, but I understand the notion of feeling intrusive.) And perhaps I can give at least general – albeit inadequate – thanks to all of those whose support I feel and appreciate daily.

My first chemo treatment was on Monday, February 27 and consisted of both drugs, Taxol and Paraplatin.  The Taxol will be given weekly during the three months of treatment, as it’s been shown to be tolerated better in weekly doses, and the Paraplatin will be added every third week.  I was delighted to find that my treatment was in a private room, with cable t.v. and warm blankets.  I almost felt like I was lounging in a hotel room in the middle of the day! Everything went off without a hitch and a few hours later, I was enjoying lunch with my mom.

I had minimal issues with the nausea until Friday, when I was hit by such a huge and sudden wave of it that I felt I might pass out.  Fortunately, I was visiting the Integrative Medicine department at MD Anderson at the time to learn about integrative and holistic practices I could incorporate into my treatment.  One of those treatments with proven results in controlling nausea is acupuncture.  Again, to my good fortune, a patient hadn’t shown up for their appointment that morning, so I was able to head straight into the acupuncture room after recovering from my near-fainting spell.  This was my first experience with acupuncture, although I had been interested in trying it for quite a while.  Very small needles were placed at points in my feet, legs, wrists and ears.  There was no discomfort upon insertion of the needles, except for some mild pain with the ones in the ears.  The acupuncturist told me that those points specifically correlated to the stomach, so it made sense that those areas were more sensitive given the nausea I was experiencing at that time.  The needles were placed for twenty minutes, during which time I relaxed in a dark room with soothing music.  It was lovely! Although I didn’t feel an immediate improvement in my nausea, and in fact, it persisted on and off for the rest of the day, I did feel better the following day.  It was recommended that I have acupuncture the day before a chemo treatment and another two days after.  I read online about a woman going through the same treatment who only had issues with side effects the one time she failed to have acupuncture.

When I arrived home from treatment on Monday, a dear friend had set up a healing altar in my bedroom containing photos and items from a number of my friends (shown in the photo above).  I love my altar! I’ve been adding little things that bring me joy and using the space to take a moment to relax and breathe.  I am filled with gratitude as I sit there, and the reminders of my support group bring me strength and peace.