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A Humorous Look at the Bright Side of Cancer... and There Is One

Chemotherapy & Radiation

November 22, 2009

Housecleaning While On Steroids

The funny thing about steroids is… they keep you up all night. Okay, maybe not you, but they sure are making me crazy. Just tonight, I made dinner rolls, did three loads of laundry, rearranged my whole office (including moving furniture), washed four loads of dishes, whipped up some homemade banana ice cream for the kids, […]

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November 17, 2009

The Power Of Suggestion

In the quest to get rid of this wretched rash, I have tried coconut oil, aloe vera, Benadryl, Caladryl lotion, Eucerin, oatmeal baths, and calendula cream. My latest resort has been Desitin; if it works on a baby’s diaper rash, it should help me, right? I guess I’ve been using a bit too much. Last […]

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November 13, 2009

Mind Games

Since my liver has decided to take a slight vacation from doing its job correctly, I now get an unscheduled break from my Taxol chemotherapy treatments and Lapatinib. Now, maybe this crazy rash will go away for at least a little while. That’s the good news. The only thing I’m worried about now is that my mind […]

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November 12, 2009

I Think My Liver’s Mad At Me

I went to my Taxol chemotherapy treatment this morning, complained once again about the rash, had blood drawn, got pre-meds dripped into my veins, prepared for the Taxol infusion, and then heard loud and clear from my liver. Apparently, the liver becomes toxic if you feed it too many poisons. On a scale of 1-50, […]

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November 11, 2009

Allergic To Cancer

When I first brought up the rash a month ago to anyone who would listen, one nurse was convinced it was the Lapatinib, one doctor suggested it could be Taxol, and another nurse thought it could be a reaction to a new supplement I’m taking. The oncologist admitted he’s not sure which particular thing is causing it. […]

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November 8, 2009

A Rash Decision

To scratch or not to scratch… that is my major health decision lately. This rash is driving me crazy. I know, I know, those of you who know me are saying to yourself, “Crazy… that’s new, how?” After I do scratch, the next decision I need to make is whether to use aloe vera or coconut […]

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November 1, 2009

Aloe Vera Massage

When people ask me what I did for Halloween, I will have to admit that I got an aloe vera massage. Our whole family was invited to a party of chili, hot chocolate, and good times, and we looked forward to it all day. I decided to take a nap first. Chemotherapy was taking it […]

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October 31, 2009

Free Week

Yesterday began my “free week.” Yippee. When I first heard that I would be doing the IV portion of chemotherapy (Taxol as opposed to the Lapatinib horse pills) every week for three weeks and the fourth week would be my “free week,” I thought it was a crazy idea. “Let’s get this all done and over with,” I thought […]

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October 26, 2009

Say That Again?

A couple of weeks ago when I started the Lapatinib (a chemotherapy regimen given by mouth rather than intraveneously), the clinical trial nurse told me the side effects, how I needed five [horse] pills daily, and if I got them on my skin, to “remember that it’s still a chemotherapy drug” and wash my hands […]

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Marie de Haan

Marie de Haan
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