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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Name | Description | Service Provider | Cost | Notes | ||
| General Info | Dexamethasone | Anti-Nausea | Self | $0.00 | |||
| General Info | Pegfilgrastim | Help your body make more white blood cells which are important to fight off infections | Shoppers Belmead | $0.00 | This is the \"Expensive Poke\" that I got supplemental financial coverage for. | ||
| Blog Entries | ||
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| Well, unless one of the chemotherapy side-effects is \"keep on feeling perfectly normal\", I haven't started getting side effects yet. I've heard the fatigue, etc, normally starts 3-5 days after treatment, and hair loss about two weeks in, so I guess I still have some stuff to look forward to. \n\n Photos from yesterday included here, because yesterday is full of pre-chemo-fun photos. During my infusion, I wore some McGyvered hand and foot cold-packs. I wasn't even sure I'd want to use cold packs until the last second, and I couldn't find anything local, and didn't have time to order online, so I McGyvered.\n We tried a few different strategies before I found a system that worked. I had brought ALL the cold stuff from the freezer, so we had lots to try. \n For my feet, we got it right on the first try. Pre-frozen fluffy \nsocks, over protective Rhino socks (nothing special, just thin socks with Rhinos on them)\n Getting the hands right was a little trickier, largely because of the placement of the IV on my left hand. I wanted to do pre-frozen socks on them too, but there was no way I could get one on my left without lots of ouchiness. So, we tried making \"bowls\" from dry fluffy socks with frozen stuff inside. First tried mini plastic ice cubes, but they lost their cold REALLY fast. So, swapped for small plastic cold blocks, but they didn't really deliver the cold to all my fingers evenly or easily. Lastly, tried gel packs, and they worked just fine. They do lose their cold relatively quickly, but since I only need them for the one drug (Carboplatin - one of the chemos), but not for the Herceptin or the Docetaxel, they should be just fine. \n I think I'll stick with the McGyvered cold packs instead of ordering expensive stuff online. I'm pretty sure it works just as well, if not better. Facebook Post:\nPSA: Apparently they're slowing down on the advice to do regular self-exams. They're just not that effective, apparently. I would never say don't do them... what I am saying is DON'T SKIP THE SCREENING. No one could feel a lump on me - not me, not the experts. My tumor was found only through screening. Facebook Post:\n I had my first chemotherapy yesterday. It was no fun, but it wasn't awful. She had to give me a new IV, so I kept the previous day's uncomfortable IV in for nothing. Sigh. The second most disappointing thing - the chemo ward had an active COVID outbreak, so we had to wear masks the whole time. \n Anyway, this post is about thanking you all for your support during this time. Support from you all is very important to me and makes me feel loved and much less anxious, and I'm so grateful.\n I also want to say a huge thank you for how adaptable you've all been when I've expressed HOW I would like to be supported. We're all figuring this stuff out together - me, as the \"person with cancer\", and you as the \"support team for your person with cancer\", and I just can't say enough how much I appreciate it that you're willing to grow and adapt with me as I go through this and learn how I want to be supported. \n If you missed my request yesterday about how I'd like to be supported, you can see it on DAMDetails.\nIf that's just too much, and you just want to say something supportive and move on with your day, I get that, and it's perfectly understandable. Supportive words are always appreciated. Here's a handy guide for saying something supportive to your person with cancer. It's not just for me personally, feel free to use it on any of your people who need support - this is a much used and published guide. \n Facebook Post\n Some of you have commented on my \"approach\" to what's happening to me - specifically the \"over-sharing\" on social media. I know I often do things different from many other folks, and I find that interesting, so I took the liberty of making this \"Top 10\" list of why I'm sharing the way I am.\n\n - 10 - Reassure my peeps that I’m still the same old crass weirdo they know and love\n - 9 - Actively seek and receive support from my peeps\n - 8 - Spread the support duty around. Brent does so much for me, and I’m leaning on him hard, but apparently I need a lot of ‘attention’ and I can’t expect him to do it all (entirely my words, not his - he'd seem perfectly happy doing it allll)\n - 7 - Invite people to participate in an easy and collaborative platform\n - 6 - Have a record of my state of mind and what I went through because I will certainly NOT remember\n - 5 - Invite people to participate as much, or as little, as they want. It is all welcome and all appreciated. \n - 4 - Keep my denial in check - I need constant reminders that this is really happening\n - 3 - Educate people on what it’s like to go through cancer. Many people keep their experience tight and don’t share much, which is totally fair. But it makes it harder for the rest of the folks to know how to support their person with cancer\n - 2 - Provide some much needed distraction - keep me from ruminating too much\n\n AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY I'M POSTING ON SOCIAL MEDIA:\n - People \"have to\" laugh at my jokes. Even the suckiest ones.\n
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