Beating Cancer

“Anti-nausea meds help? I'm taking anzemet & compazine. They suck compared to zofran. I'm thinking my insurance didn't want to cover Zofran.

I think I'm gonna need brownies

@ treatments down, 10 to go (3 months) and I've got 3 major mouth sores. Two under the tongue next to the back teeth. Makes one really aware how much the tongue is used to clear food - I can't really stretch it for anything. I use liquid to swish my mouth out. I've had to alter my diet based on acidity and texture (corn on the cob out :( )

I do "magic mouthwash" 4x/day and baking soda water every chance I get.

Not as toxic my #&%!$ing ass.”

“I took compazine once and I think I'm allergic to it. Right after I took it, I started feeling very nervous like a huge panic attack was starting only worse. I felt like the walls were closing in on me and it was a horrible feeling. They gave me some bendadryl to calm me down and the effect wore off. I'll never take that drug again and I thought I was losing my mind.

Bear, tongue pain is one of the worst pains you can have. It's one of the most sensitive spots in the body and to have it cut or a sore on it is the worst.”

“Anti-nausea meds help? I'm taking anzemet & compazine. They suck compared to zofran. I'm thinking my insurance didn't want to cover Zofran.

Hit the nearest street corner and score some chronic. Best anti-nausea med going. :)”

“Ice cream is up on th list. Just tried a brandywine tomato - felt like it was eating at my tongue. Did this have to happen in Summer? :(

No street corner for me, Nigal. Insider trading only.

;)”

“Thoughts are with you guys.”

“Thinking of ya'll....lots of hugs!!!!!!”

“#&%!$ Cancer - Chemo sucks ass! I think I'm with you Rich - surgery over chemo.

Wouldn't it be nice if they could comatize you through chemo? I wanna eat but it hurts. I wanna drink but can't. I wanna crap but its painful. I wanna sleep but it escapes me. My tongue hurts, my teeth hurt, my arm hurts, my kidneys hurt, my intestines hurt.

It's not the bullet but the fall.

Gonna go pop lorazepam, compazine, ibuprofen, and I think some sominex.

#&%!$ it all.

I'd kill to be wasted right now.”

“Bear, sorry to hear about all the pain you are in. We've all heard the the statement "pick your poison" and unfortunately that applies to cancer treatment. All the treatments have some kind of problems. While surgery usually only produces localized pain, in many cases sections of body parts go with the cancer and if it happens to be something you need, that's no picnic either, because the body part is never coming back. Sometimes that means finding a new way to live each day. As bad as chemo pain and discomfort is, just tell yourself they selected the best plan for you and when it's all over the pain will be gone, the cancer eradicated and you'll have all your body parts intact. With surgery not all of those things will happen. I don't know if that makes you feel any better, I hope it does, but that's how I look at it.”

“:-(”

“Thanks. It does help. I'm not coping well this time round.”

“bearmagnet - You still are in our prayers. We don't expect you to cover up your feelings every day. With us you can let it all hang out.

I almost feel guilty to tell that I'm feeling better. I'm regaining a little endurance and strength. But I'm still taking it easy at my daughter's place.
last edited: 8/23/07 11:17:44 AM”

“All of you guys, hang in there.
I'm hoping everyone is on the mend.”

“:(....thinking of ya'll.......hugs and prayers!!!!!!
...you can come here & vent any time you choose.....we will be hear to listen.”

“Bear...I didn't see this earlier.

GREAT BIG HUGE Hug and lots of love to you.

Complain to us all you want!!! Stay tough...it will all be over soooooon!”

“Damn Bmag, I hate to hear that dude. My boss is currently in the hospital on Chemo/radiation. It is tearing her down pretty bad too.
There are folks who care about you. Stay strong, ok, and we'll keep prayin.”

“Thanks y'all. It really means a lot to me and helps more than you might know.”

“spiked a fever last night of 101.4. sent me to the ER for 5hrs. Neutrophil and WBC have bottomed out. Was the worst time to get a root canal.

switched Amoxocillan for Amoxocillan/Clauvanate.”

“Geeeez my friend...a root canal is bad enough much less having to get it now. Rest up today and take it easy!”

“ER's are made for observing how far past their limits people can go with their suffering!”

“Bear, sorry you're having so much trouble. I'll keep praying for you to get a break. Hang in there.

Today is day +29 since my transplant. Things
are starting to get a little better, the nausea is less, and I'm eating/keeping more things down. I even have some stubble on my head!
Honestly though, I'm not looking forward to a second transplant in 3 months.”

“Thanks. I'm kinda worried about calling the research RN and asking about Neupogen.

Sorry you have to get another transplant, le. Guess I'm kind of ignorant on how that works. How many do you total?”

“Bear, I hope the fever has subsided and you are feeling better.”

“It was a spike. I took 2 readings of 101.2 then 101.4 By the time I got there it was 99. They only let me go b/c I went back to normal. The source is questionable. Could have been a reaction to my taking 2g of amoxicillan for my tooth infection at one time.

Still, I'm to avoid the public until my counts go back up.”

“At least it's back to normal. I remember before I had a bone marrow transplant, I had to prove I had any dental issues addressed with a signed statement from my dentist. The reason was because your white count goes down to about zero and a dental issue at that point would be a huge problem.

Sometimes it makes sense to wear a face mask if you have to go out in public and your white cell counts are very low.”

“Just got off the phone with an RN.

WBC - 1.4
Absolute Neutrophil Count 460

I believe I'm in the basement.”

“That's pretty low. Did she tell you to avoid crowded places and sick people with numbers in that range?”

“Yeah. This is my "break" week and Just before the weekend of no chemo. I feel near normal. :( But Another fever and I get admitted for IV antibiotics.”

“Maybe the numbers will come back up during the break week.”

“did labs 2hrs ago

WBC - 1.8
ANC - Not Yet Determined.

Supposed to get Chemo this Thursday.

hey peeps - do you remember what counts mean? I mean since the normal range of WBC is 5,000 - 10,000/mm3 is "1.8" 1,800/mm3?

This blows monkey butt.”

“ANC is 700. Got 2.75 days to get to 1000....

edit: had to take out some serious "fuzzy math"
last edited: 8/27/07 12:58:30 PM”

“Maybe this will help - http://antimonkeybutt.com/”

“with my counts or my emotional distress? Helped with the latter, not sure it could do anything for the former but I'm willing to try anything. LOL!”

“LOL, I thought it might help with the money butt problem.

Sorry that you have to go through this again bear. My brother's wife was just diagonsed with uterine cancer. She start her chemo on Wednesday too. My friend Maggie is still battling brain cancer.

Cancer just suks.”

“Yeah. We were gonna have a Party on Wednesday, celebrate my week off and toast ourselves silly before chemo on Thursday. Have to cancel. I've been in almost complete isolation since last Thursday.”

“That sucks, bear.

I've found the emotional problems to be nearly as bad as the body problems.
Hang in there. We are all pulling for you.”

“Bear, a white cell count of 1.8 probably does mean 1,800 white blood cells/mcL (cells per microliter) since the normal range is 4,500-10,000 white blood cells/mcL (cells per microliter).”

“This probably doesn't help much, but hang in there!”

“Thanks y'all. It might be easier if I could drink more, dammit.

;)”

“Smoke down, next best thing.”

“goddamit, your cancer is starting to piss me off. i wish it would fcking die already”

“Good luck with the chemo Bear.
Sorry to hear about your sil creek dancer.

Tomorrow is my 30 day (from the transplant)checkup. I've been feeling pretty good physically but for some reason it's been getting harder emotionally.”

“I blame the steroid for my emotionall swings, le.

My doc canceled my appt today and moved my chemo from Thursday to Friday in the hopes my counts will be up enough.”

“Le Subtil - I just got caught up on your care pages. I'm glad to see things are better than when I hit the trail.

I thought a lot about Le Subtil, RichB and Bear Magnet while I was hiking this month. You were all in my thoughts and prayers. I tried to send you all some blessings and good energy from the mountains.”

“sorry, bear. didnt mean to sound so negative on the last post. i just want you to get better. good luck”

“Thanks Ped, glad to see you got home safely from your hike.”

“Somehow I missed that last message, cb (the fog is increasing...). I think it's very well put and I share your sentiments.

;)”

“Bear the hubby has been on prednizone (sp?) for the last 10 days & I'm here to testify that it definetly effects the mood and emotion!”

“The Learning Channel had an interesting show on last night about several women and their struggles with cancer. The story was mostly about Kris Carr and how she copes with an incurable cancer. I'm sure they'll show it again in case anyone missed it. Here's a link to the women that were in the film. crazy sexy cancer”

“RichB - you get a diagnosis yet?”