Laurel's Cancer Journey

Three sisters visiting, hooray! Moderately easy read -   Hello my friends, I know it's been a while. Just not comfy enough for much typing.   Last Sunday our friend Dan Bolton played the harp for us over Zoom. He is a renaissance man and this is something he has recently learned to do. We loved it.   Tuesday and Wednesday were wonderful with the visit of three of my sisters! They came from Washington, Texas, and Southern California. I lasted two hours the first day and three the second. I was surprised that I started crying when they first walked in. I shed a few tears during the visit but there was an abundance of laughter to balance that right out. We have a sisters and hubbies reunion in September, but who can be sure of what might happen between now and then. Another sister visited in April, and the last sister will visit in July after she and her husband return from their mission in New Zealand. I do have one more sister, but she's in heaven so...

Easy read - Today has been a very comfy day--hooray! Yesterday told me it's almost time to make a decision in the pain department, though. While the long-acting NSAID, CBD cream and occasional lidocaine patches have been working well for my spine and ribs, it's almost time to step it up. My choices are radiation, Gabapentin, or opioids. Radiation to temporarily reduce the bad cells sounds like a hassle going to the hospital 5-10 times, plus a long list of very unappealing side effects. Gabapentin is for nerve pain and I don't really know if mine is nerve pain or not. The doctor could help me figure that out but considering I would have to take it 3 times a day every day, It sounds like my best option is opioids. I can take those as needed. I put them out on the dresser last night in case I needed them during the night. I didn't. I've been blessed with mostly good nights. I'm SO very thankful for that. Photos and story: This heavy glass vase is my cup holder on t...

Yellow curry with tofu. SO much better than it looks.   Yesterday I made a confession to my husband. There's a very small part of me that doesn't want to survive this. Why? If I get well, and then later this comes back, or I have to go through something like it again, I don't want to start over from the beginning and experience the whole thing again. I'm partway through now, so the small part of me wants to just finish it and get it over with. We cried together. The rest of me, however, knows that everything will work out just the way it should and, no matter what, ultimately, everyone will have a happy ending. You, me, and everyone else in the world will eventually be so very happy. No pain or sorrow, only joy. It's all going to be okay. Michael knows this, too.   You know how people talk about being stuck in a rut? We loved our rut, our routine. Working and getting things done during the day, then in the evening having dinner while watching something. That was bli...

Today I started a long-lasting NSAID (like ibuprofen) called Nabumetone. I have felt pretty good today, minimal discomfort, but a little sleepy. I'll take it! It lasts 12 hours so I'll take it twice a day. This evening, about an hour before it was time for the next one I was getting pretty uncomfy. I waited until the exact minute to take the next one. An hour and a half or two later I was still very uncomfy. I picked up the bottle of new nerve pain Rx, Gabapentin, thinking I might take one of those since it seemed like I was having nerve pain (burning across the back of my shoulders). The directions say to take it 3x per day and don't suddenly stop taking it without checking with your doctor. I guess it's not an as-needed drug. So instead, I had hubby put some CBD/THC cream in the right place and a few minutes later I was improved, yay. I think I'll get a bigger jar of that. I learned that the addition of THC to CBD makes it more effective. A couple of days ago, it ...

After yesterday's hard update I just wanted to let you know that today has been better.

  SUNDAY was amazingly good. Been going slowly downhill since then. MONDAY was almost as good as Sunday. I branched out a little and put some frozen stir fry veggies in the microwave with a small amount of brown rice. I didn't use the included sauce mostly because of the sugar, I just used a few drops of organic coconut aminos, which is a soy sauce substitute. Couldn't actually taste that. Still, the bowl was a nice change. TUESDAY was almost as good as Monday. Tried curcumin as my first pain reliever of the day. It's not as good as ibuprofen or Tylenol for sure, but I'll try to swap it in once in a while when it's a good day (like today) to go a little easier on my organs. Got an email back from a local, not remote, Reiki gal a friend recommended. This isn't her day job, but she does it on the side to help people, and charges about 1/4 of what she could charge, nice. But we'll have to drive to the far side of Los Altos which will be a 30-40 minute drive. I ...

  Pillows in all the right places. This new recliner will allow me to spend more time out of bed.   Thursday we met with a naturopathic doctor over Zoom about my liver health. What I came away with was: check certain of my long list of supplements for country of origin, and to avoid those from China or India due to heavy metals in the soil. I was surprised about India. He said there are lots of Indians walking around with heavy metals in their bodies because they use so many spices. I should get back to using a castor oil liver pack daily with a heating pad, but only for 20 minutes, not an hour. You can't detox the body too fast because the liver can't process too much at once. FYI - Castor oil packs are also good for uterine fibroids, non-malignant ovarian cysts, headaches, migraines, constipation, intestinal disorders, gallbladder and liver conditions. I can use curcumin for pain in place of Tylenol. Cool! Sounds risky to try, but I will. We have some that he recommends comi...

  My sweet daughter comforting me on a rough day.   Wednesday of last week was rough (photos), but since my daughter helped me work out a schedule of OTC pain relievers, the pain in my spine has been very manageable with ibuprofen and Tylenol since last Thursday. Until last night. Taking 2 tablets every 3 hours went well Thu-Sun, so Monday I stretched it to every 4 hours, worried about my kidneys and liver with so many pain relievers. Yesterday, Tuesday, I lowered the dosage even more by taking only 1 tablet every 4 hours. I was fine until the evening when it either caught up with me or I'm taking a dip. Not crazy about the dips, they're a little scary. And I never come quite back up to where I was pre-dip. I've generally been sleeping well, but not last night. Not due to pain, necessarily, although getting comfy was a little tricky, but just couldn't fall asleep. Slept from 3:00-4:00am, then 6:30-7:30am, then 8:30-9:30am.   Today I'm back to 2 tablets every 3 hours...

Me, writing this post to you. My days are spent here, or on the bed. I don't last here as long as bed, comfort wise.     Expecting a third consecutive good day today. This week I have graduated to taking OTC pain relievers all day, every three hours. I wake up in the morning, take two ibuprofens, set a timer for three hours, take two Extra Strength Tylenols and repeat. At bedtime I take my last dose totaling 6 tablets of each kind for the day. My nurse daughter helped me work out the schedule. I still need to be very careful with my movements and be in a resting position most of the time, either sitting back on the couch (I have a lumbar support hubby let me steal from his desk chair), or propped up on my bed. This, interspersed with a couple of sessions with the new, long, gel ice pack which has already paid for itself. Tears were plentiful on Wednesday, but minimal on Thursday and Friday with the new pain reliever schedule. Expecting the same today, Saturday.    I ...