So, day one of chemo.
Got to say, I'm having second thoughts about it after the lecture and Environmental Protection Suit I was given to clean up spills, if any. To include, if more than a small amount gets on your cloths, put them in the bio-hazard bag and bring to us for DESTRUCTION. And this is stuff I'm putting INTO my body intravenously! I mean, I get where Paracelsus was going when he said, "All things are poisons, for there is nothing without poisonous qualities. It is only the dose which makes a thing poison,” but still!
So far, knock wood, no symptoms, no nausea, but I've discovered every time I go for chemo, chemo and pump comes home with me for 2 days. Also, I can't have cold anything for those two days. Or, as my nurse explained it, "My patients tell me it's like swallowing razor blades or broken glass."
Charming.
How about some good news? Anybody want some good news? I am working on a new story and getting good reviews from my pre-readers. Dunno when it might see the light of day, but I am writing again, as some of you might know from my Whateley story last week. I'm also doing some work on the next chapter of the Doomsday Protocol, so, fans of that, rejoice.
And I've been in touch with the Social Security Administration for disability and got past the first hurdle. In fact, the lady I spoke with was certain I'd be approved, so that's a plus, though (rattles the tip the author cup) I'm still just shy of 6 figures for what I have already had and help is always appreciated. If you'd like to help, you can donate here:
Medical Expenses Go Fund Me for E. E. Nalley
Anything, including prayers, are greatly appreciated and any donation over $5 will get you a PDF of my fantasy novel Beyond This Illusion. This novel (65,800 words) is not available any where else.
My deepest thanks to everyone in the community for your prayers, donations and well wishes. Most specifically your comments over the years on my scribblings. They are a great help.
More soon!
E. E. Nalley
Comments
I donated
to your worthy cause.
Sephrena
Thanks very much for your
Thanks very much for your kind words and generosity. I hope you enjoy Beyond This Illusion!
E
I'm out of my mind and into yours!
May His Angels of Kindness and Mercy be With You
Growing up words contained power..., "You're a sissy!" were fighting words among so many others. As we got older, jobs, family and responsibility, words still had power..., "Fix this if." "I love you." "I hate you!"
And yet I struggle to find the right words for situations I grew up believing I knew the answers to. I pray you receive comfort and health. As our savior healed the sick, returned sight to the blind, may blessings of kindness, mercy, healing be yours.
Amen
Hugs Nalley
Barb
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Thanks very much, Barb! If
Thanks very much, Barb! If God be for us, who can stand against us? :)
I hope very much that, like me, your faith gives you comfort in the difficult patches of your life. I know my days are numbered, and when it is my time, I go with a glad heart, but I'm not in any rush to cut short my exploration of the Lord's creation. For it is His work, and it is wondrous in my eyes.
Do not think your words a struggle, they were exactly right.
God bless and keep you and yours.
E. E. Nalley
I'm out of my mind and into yours!
Something looks a bit fishy to me
There is no chemo in existence that would be a bio-hazard, except possibly to people extremely ill with some rare diseases. (Whom you sure as hell will not meet outside a high-end hospital, and even there wouldn't be let anywhere near them.) These medics likely exaggerate the danger from it.
So, do not be afraid. :)
And, most of all, do not think that your days are numbered - beyond the fact that everyone's days are. :) Today, medicine is much better at treating cancers than 30 years ago. A friend of mine was diagnosed 6 years ago with cancer of a type and stage that 30 years ago would mean 1 month left to live, maybe 2 with top-notch treatment - the most malignant type of lung cancer, discovered due to big metastases in nearly all of her bones... She is already bad, but still alive! :)
Chemotherapy is essentially the use of poisons……
In specific, targeted doses to kill cancer cells. It is easy to understand how it could be considered a bio-hazard.
Hell, every time I go for a PET scan, I am required to stay away from children and pregnant women for 48 hours - not to mention that I have to use a separate restroom at the hospital to urinate. Part of a PET scan is having radioactive materials injected into your blood stream, and it takes several days for it to pass out of your system through your urine.
As the author already noted, basically any substance taken in high enough doses can be poisonous. I had a professor in college who proved this by giving high doses of ordinary black pepper to lab rats, which resulted in a noticeable increase in the rate of cancer in the test subjects. His study showed this to be true with multiple commonly used substances - substances which have been part of our diets for centuries with no adverse effect.
Alcohol is a poison - yet a large percentage of the world’s population imbibes on a regular basis. Oxygen, which we require to live, can be deadly in high concentrations. Nitrogen, which makes up the vast majority of our atmosphere, can also kill you.
My point is that having been through cancer, although I had immunotherapy rather than chemotherapy, I have been up close and personal with not only my own situation but also with others I interacted with during the twelve months of my treatments - as well as since then. And I have not only seen, but experienced the adverse reaction one can have to the very treatment intended to save you.
FYI, I have yet another PET scan in exactly seven days. I have to go another two years before I am officially in remission.
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Hey Dallas!
Oh, not to worry, while I consider myself an informed patient, I do try not to second guess my Drs. Not that I won't, but when I raise an objection, I try to do so in a way that says, "Help me understand your recommendation better," not "I think I know more than you." I suppose it's one thing to see a Rad Tech walking around in a lead apron, they're constantly exposed to radiation and we KNOW that is deadly, so obvious protections are needed. It's a little alarming when the same precautions are taken with a medicine about to be put in you.
My head understands this is very potent chemicals, and these nurses are handling them daily for years, so the precaution makes sense, when you sit and think about it. But it's just not as obvious as radiation I guess.
Though, so far, I'm feeling absolutely normal, even walking up this morning I'd say I feel the same as yesterday pre-treatment so here's hoping that lasts.
I'm out of my mind and into yours!
I can’t really comment from a place of personal…….
Experience regarding your treatment, but I can tell you that I had no reaction to the immunotherapy at all (other than being very tired, for the first 24 hours immediately after getting an infusion) through the first eleven months of treatments. Then suddenly with two treatments left it hit me. Even my oncologist was surprised; she thought that I was so far into the regimen that I would make it through all the way with no issues.
Hopefully you will not have any major issues due to your course of treatments.
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
I take them every day
Biohazardous drugs that is. The bottles are clearly labeled to be handled only with gloves even though I take a mild dose in pill form. I know people who have had infusions of much heavier doses. I assure you that it has made them dangerously ill. Take those warnings as a protection for your family and pets.
Look into Alternative Treatments
Such as Targeted Frequency and possible Sodium Bicarbonate dosing onto the affected areas. Both treatments have high success rates. But research and decide before staying on Chemo.
Sephrena
Treatments Differ
Firstly, from country to country, and, depending on age, what they decide is best for you. 18 months ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and at age 81 they would not operate, so the proposed solution was radiation treatment. I had a biopsy and another op to have targets implanted into my prostate. Then I was subjected to 39 zaps of radiation, five days a week. Each dose only took about ten minutes, but the worst part was that I had to have a full bladder before each zap, so I was galloping to the loo as soon as it was over. The good news is that they're pretty sure that they got it all, but I have to have post-treatment every three months for a year. The radiation treatment itself was pretty harmless. I was a little tired at the end of each week's treatments.
I don't mind that at all. I'm still here! I also have to have an injection of Zoladex every three months. That's a female hormone to lower the body's output of testosterone. It's similar to the hormones produced in a woman's body during menopause. That's no problem, the only pity is that it doesn't feminize me!
The cost to me was about AUD 10000. My insurance and our equivalent of Medicaid covered about $45000 on top of that, plus I had to cover transport to and from the hospital of around $2000. Obviously I think it was worth it, but if I hadn't been insured I would have been hurting financially.
Ten years ago my wife died of multiple cancers. She had four bouts of chemotherapy and three of radiation. Undoubtedly they kept her alive for longer but, in the end, her oncologist told her that another session of chemo would only extend her life by two months at the most, so she said 'No Thanks' and we went on a cruise. She said it was better than feeling sick every day and she did enjoy the trip. She died six weeks after we got back.
I hope the end result is better for you.
All my love
My hopes and prayers are with you,
Love, Andrea Lena