A Day in the Life
11.15.25. A day in the life of a cancer survivor. Every day is different and new stuff pops up all the time and you just try to figure it out. That’s why talking with other Survivors and Supporters is so important. I do not want sympathy. I’m just giving the reader a peak at what we go through.
Follow up with the 3 days of Doc appointments…
I have esphogeal reflux and my GP recommended an endoscopy. Apparently, the new protocols for the endoscopy, is first you have to have an echocardiogram and a stress test. It’s all a scam …. Unless of course the GP isn’t exactly telling the truth and is trying to CYA after I told him I was having a dull ache on the left side of my chest at night. But, I haven’t felt that in about a month and I get my heart rate up above 160 when Amy and I walk the neighborhood - with no issues - we live in a very hilly neighborhood.
Wednesday was the echo. To my clients, yes, it proved I still have a heart. I told the tech about Stage4Life and she told me about her father having prostrate cancer and most of the members of her family had some form of cancer through the years. Hopefully, they will come to the meet-ups.
Thursday was the stress test. That tech was completely void of personality. She was using the Bruce protocols which increases the speed and grade ever 2 min. I made it through 3 rounds. Just as my heart rate got to 150, she stopped the test. I think it was because my blood pressure was 169/114. It took about 2 min for my heart rate to get back to 100 so that shows I need to be more consistent at cardio! The better in shape you are in, the faster the heart rate drops back to resting rate. The results have not come back yet. Looks like blood pressure meds are in my future.
Friday was the big one. It was the 3 month (actually 4) CT scan of my abdomen to shoulders. It was a good report. The right lung base nodules went from 1.8 x 1.1cm to 1.6 X 1.1cm. The lymph node next to the right lung went from 2.3 x1.2 to 1.9 x 1.2cm. So, those shrunk a little. So slight decreases. I’ll take it.
The tumors in the bones are stable - haven’t grown nor shrunk.
The 4 in my liver and 1 on my pancreas are still non-detectable. That’s good.
There was no cancer DNA in my bloodstream, so that is really good.
The reflux seems to be at bay. I took out tomatoes, and all tomato based products, completly out of my diet. I also sleep with my upper body propped up against 3 big pillows at about a 10% angle. Along with that, the nueropathy in my feet is basically gone. I know the 2 are related, but the docs think I’m nuts. I know what I know. I am taking Pantoprazole for the reflux and that seems to be working.
So now the big hurdle is constant diahrea - from the chemo pill I take everyday. We met friends for dinner. I split a mixed lettuce salad with beets, pecans, goat cheese with a baslamic vinaigrette with Amy. For dinner, I had the Chicken Alfredo with fettuccine, mushrooms, spinach in a Parmesan cream sauce. No ‘maters anywhere. After we got home, I had to GO 4 times in 45min and 4 times during the night. Absolutely tore me up. This is the reason I’ve dropped so much weight. I’m now down to about 146lbs with clothes when I was 170 in March.
With much trepidation, I had just a couple of sips of coffee this morning and headed to bible study at Santos Coffee. There, I ordered a banana smoothie and it was really good. Nothing really happened when I got home, thank you God. Amy and I went to MudTown to meet our Marketing/Event co-ordinator. But first, we stopped by Cahaba Pharmacy and picked up some chewable PeptoBismol. It actually tastes really good. It has a spearmint flavoring. So, I took 2 every half hour for 1.5 hours and so far, so good!!! If this solves the problem … well Roll Tide!
The last thing is that recently, especially after a shower, I’ve been breaking out in a rash that itches like you would not believe. Hydrocortisone and Benedryl really helped, but I found out through Grok that Benedryl interfers with the chemo. Fortunately, I only took it twice. That was the other thing I picked up at the pharmacy today was prescription strength hydrocortisone. We’ll see how it goes tonight. However, Amy made a great deduction. She thinks the reason why I’m breaking out is that she switched laundry detergent from Arm and Hammer to some “all nautral” brand. Amy switched back, but it may take a little while to wash the affected clothes. Right now, I’m not really itching, so I think she is on to something.