I realized my update dates make no sense so from now on I will try to update once a week and just use whatever date I do the update on. I hope that works
Since we last spoke, I started feeling better. My fatigue started to improve and my stomach got better too. I am still trying to nap every afternoon because I think it will help me heal, not because I have to or can't function
12/13 I did blood tests and met with our physician's assistant who we really like. My blood markers are all improving (I am still anemic but trending better) and he was happy with my progress. He was very nice, spent a ton of time with us, and answered all of our questions
On 12/15, we had a follow-up with one of our favorite doctors, our Naturopath from OHSU. She is awesome and is the perfect bridge for us between natural and "complementary treatments" and the western medicine side of the world. She told me to keep doing what I am doing and didn't add any supplements or treatments
On 12/16, we met with my original Naturopath and did an IV Ozone treatment and IV Curcumin, and high-dosage of Vitamin C. The infusion went well, but I didn't sleep well that night and my stomach got worse. My intuition was telling me that it was the Vitamin C so if I do that again I will either skip it or lower the dosage. Other than that, I felt good after
On the night of 12/16, I broke a crown on a tooth. Half came off. The remaining half had two really sharp points that kept stabbing my tongue. Of course, it happened on a Friday night! On Saturday night, the other half came off so at least my tongue got better. My dentist was awesome, saw me on Monday, gave me a temporary crown (the entire visit was 30 minutes), and only charged me $114 for all the work, X Rays, and new crowns. Yay! The death by 1000 duck bites sucks, but at least it resolved well
On the mental health front, last week, in part of my F It philosophy, I reached out to some old friends who I haven't spoken to in years to reconnect. The reconnection was great and so much fun to catch up! So good for my mental state
I also found a new organization that I like called Let's Win which is all about patient stories and wanted mine. I spent a lot of yesterday (12/22) writing the first draft for them. It also was healing and felt great to put it all on "paper" (yes, I dated myself)
As most of you know, I am passionate about Integrative and Holistic Healthcare and I joined the Society for Integrative Oncology to help spread the word. They asked me to be on their Patient Advocacy Committee. I was so honored and they announced it on social media last week. I am very excited about it! I have one or two more orgs that I am trying to work with as well
Having both kids home, and having my niece and nephew from NYC visit was amazing. We had a blast, so fun and so nice that they made the trip here. It was a big week of feeling supported!
A few things are upcoming:
I have another CT Scan next week which I am excited about as it will give me a progress check on my tumors and I will have better info about what is going on with my liver
Mom is coming to visit from the 25th through the 28th! I am so excited to see Mommy!
January 19th I have an appointment with a Urologic Oncologist to discuss my Kidney cancer. It will be the first appointment I've had specific to my kidney. Since I love information, I am very excited about the meeting
Have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukah, happy Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate, and a happy new year! If you have any questions, thoughts, or comments let me know!
Thank you for reading. It's another way that I feel supported!