Baldies' Blog began originally in the UK by a 26 year old journalist with a blood cancer on a mission to inform the world about bone marrow donation.

He has since died, and I took on the cause of making cancer care more transparent for everybody.

Cancer is a disease that will touch everybody through diagnosis or affiliation: 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed and 1 in 3 woman will hear those words, "You Have Cancer."

I invite you to read how I feel along my journey and
how I am continuing to live a full life alongside my Hodgkin's lymphoma, with me controlling my cancer, not my cancer controlling me.

I hope that "Baldies' Blog" will prepare you to handle whatever life sends you, but especially if it's the message, "You Have Cancer."

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Appointment Day

It’s appointment day!
I don’ think I have ever said that sentence with an exclamation mark at the end. Appointments are usually more dreaded, but not today.
I am actually feeling okay.
Actually, I’m feeling more than okay. I feel downright positive.
Yes, positive, hopeful, strong, fierce, whatever you would like to use to describe it.
Let me tell you why.
I think what I’m doing is working.
I think the diet, the homeopathic regimen, and the chiropractor are facilitating a major change in my body.
Case and point: my low grade fevers are gone!!!
I don’t have them in the morning or in the evening. Previously, my temperature ran about 99.3 and up at these points (during the day, with natural steroids at work, I was usually okay).
A low grade temperature is a hallmark of Hodgkin’s.
AND I DON’T HAVE IT.
Also, I get SEVERE acid reflux has an indicator my body is about to reek havoc on me. I have reflux with pain to the extent that I’ve spent many nights curled over the toilet, “hugging the porcelien,” throwing up or making myself, just to relieve the pain and tension.
I’ve been taking Prilosec 20mg morning and night for this with tums on the side. Now, I’m dropping that to just at night.
Let’s cross are fingers and prayer for this.
I have been experiencing periods of itching, which is a sign of lymphoma (you could see how these symptoms could drive someone crazy since ANYTHING could be making me itch), but I take some benadryl and feel better. I think I’m sensitive, or absolutely allergic, to something.
I have no idea what?
So there is the good news. I have also PREPARED, like a good girl, to see the big guy. I have a list of questions. Here they are:
I need a magnesium/acyclovir prescription.
Oxycodone is on back order everywhere!! Help. (Narcotics are my only pain management option, no Tylenol because it could hurt my liver, no ibuprofen since it could hurt my kidneys).
USC study shows interaction with green tea and velcade?! What is this?
Change pharmacy information
Chiropractor- postural stimulation for my pneumonia WORKED!! Can I do osteopathic liver stimulation?
I talked to Dr. C about Bio 88 and 93. Bio 88 is a homeopathic remedy to facilitate lymphatic drainage and spleen health.
Bio 93 is viruses! It slowly introduces new viruses to a growing system to stimulate a response. It contains CMV (cytomegalovirus)and EBV (Epstein Barr virus). He said he would prescribe 2 gtt BID to 6 month old. Should I take it or stay away?
Was my donor CMV + or – and why does this matter? Dr. M is always asking.
I have constant lower abdominal bloating and cramping with constant pain. I think it’s from the fibroids and cystic ovary found on my ultrasound in Oct. Can I see a gynecologist or do ANYTHING for this?
NO MORE LOW GRADE FEVERS!!
I lost weight because I am on a serious anti-cancer diet.
This is how I prepare. I try to prepare in writing if I’m able, if I’m not, my caretaker does (thanks mom). I keep a notebook by my purse and write down questions as I think them up during the week so I REMEMBER all of them.
Cross your fingers (maybe your toes and your legs too. I know it might be hard to walk and work). I think we’re all going to have a good day, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll snag a picture today of the infamous Alyea.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are fabulous! i love this posting! i love hearing you so upbeat! i have noticed a change in you too! just by being around you the last couple of weeks! let me know how it goes!
positive thoughts heading your way!

Heather said...

hoping this day goes great for you! i can't say it enough...i am so thrilled that i've found you! (thx bekah!). tho our situations are different-wow we have a lot of the same annoyances. i am trying to take your lead little by little and take control of the mess left in my body from disease and toxic treatments.