Cancer Support and Caregivers Who Are Trail Blazers!

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by JustJo

Just got off the phone with my mother...they've added another drug to her chemo cocktail that is making her very sick...as in throwing up after every session. She continues to feel weak, dizzy and awful....the infusions help to keep her from being dehydrated, so they've upped her to 2 or 3 infusions a week.

We're coordinating now to get her infusions while she's here visiting. She also finally admitted that she'll need a wheelchair while she's here. I pushed a little by telling her that Rooster really wanted to push her...that helped, because she would do anything for him. (Thanks Dapper )

Done more prying...as I do...and what she has is being called "metastatic colon cancer" even though it's in her small intestine (and she has no colon anymore). My research is showing average lifespan from diagnosis is 29 months, survival rate at 5 years is about 19%....naturally, with those tending to be the younger, stronger patients. It's something I'm working at getting my head wrapped around.

Her visit is moved up to the end of September, so she'll be here in a few weeks. I'm burning up my Hilton Hotel points for a couple free nights...one in Miami, one in Key Largo....not how I dreamed of using them, but hopefully a few more good memories for my son to put in his heart to keep after Granny is gone.

I can't shake the feeling that that's going to be soon.

A bit over a week ago I went to see this guy in Chicago, Keith Block, M.D. He runs the Block Center for Integrative Cancer. His theory is how it is more than just chemo that helps fight this fight. It is the whole mind, body, spirit thing. Nutrition is huge. He wrote the book, "Life Over Cancer". http://www.blockmd.com/

I take the supplements they reccommend and eat the foods they reccommend. They achieve amazing results. One thing they do really well is help people be healthy enough to get through their chemo treatments. If your mother is able to focus on reading, she should check it out.

Anyway, natural stuff and supplements are part of his thinking and I know your mother is into that. I looked it up and for nausea he suggests "eating a small amount of grated or finely chopped fresh ginger (if your blood platelets are less than 60,000 cells per microliter, check with a medical professional first), or a teaspoon of gomasio (a seasoning made from crushed sesame seeds and salt), or try sucking on the pit of a umeboshi plum. Gomasio and umeboshi plums are available in the macrobiotic section of health food stores. Herbal teas (such as ginger, alfalfa, chamomile, fennel, and slippery elm), oranges, or tangerines may also help".

I know that you can also get ginger candies to suck on, as well. They had them at my chemo center. She could get some of those (sorry, don't remember the name of them, but I know you could order them off the internet) and suck on them during the infusions.

For me, it was all about the simple, red and white striped peppermint. That is what helped my nausea. Peppermint tea helped me too.

Hang tough.