July 9, 2018
Hi everyone! So last Monday I went to my last and final red devil infusion!! My Mom wanted to see the process and joined us which was nice. On our drive up I was really nauseas. Thought it was the car ride but once we arrived and time passed I was still nauseas! Jamie thought it was my nerves. I literally think I already have PTSD from that place lol! The smells, the building, ewww everything about it just makes me sick. BUT it was the last one! Thank god!
The next chemo med is called Taxol, it is a weekly infusion that starts July 23rd for 12 weeks. I’ll be doing 4 infusions in Lebanon and the rest in Manchester to help with travel. The med should be a lot less potent. It may cause pain in my hands and feet but as long as I keep up with exercise and karate I should be ok! hiiiii yaaa (that’s my karate noise) 🤛👋 haha
I have been extremely nauseas this round and even sips of Gatorade weren’t staying down. I haven’t talked about medication yet and would like to share with everyone what helped me through some of my toughest days. My oncologist prescribed Ativan, compazine and zofran. I took these meds over and over again with little to no relief. I also tried oils, seabands, etc. nothing helped. Multiple people had mentioned marijuana. I was skeptical at first but after weeks of being so miserable I was willing to try anything. Thank goodness I had a friend to walk me through the process of getting a medical marijuana card. You need to go online and print the application and see your PCP who will then fill it out. Having a card enables you to obtain marijuana through state-approved dispensaries, wellness centers and health clinics. This is a long process and takes approximately 21 days. So if your even semi interested you need to apply right away. I tried edible candy first. I found it very helpful but the only downfall is you have to wait a full hour to take effect. I find smoking to be most effective and you get immediate relief. My nausea/vomiting is gone within minutes! And I actually get really hungry. Aka “munchies” lol. This is great for a cancer patient who has trouble eating and keeping food and fluids down. I also have really bad insomnia at night due to chemo and sometimes feel like I am having panic attacks. Smoking helps tremendously!! Also helps with aches and pain. After telling my oncologist that I found something that works his response was “I don’t know much about that” “try to be more aggressive with the medication and maybe we can get you in for an extra infusion of anti-nausea meds”. Whhhhhhat??? I am telling you I found something that works! Ahh so frustrating. Clearly the medical field isn’t ready to promote cannabis and it’s benefits which is really too bad. There are even 2 drugs based on marijuana compounds that have been approved in the US for medical use called Dronabinol and Nabilone. Why didn’t he mention that? On the American Cancer Society website it states that scientists reported that THC slows growth and/or causes death in certain types of cancer cells growing in lab dishes. Hmmm sounds pretty good to me! So what do we do when our oncologist literally won’t even talk about it, nevermind promote it. Advocate for yourself and apply for a card. Even if you don’t use it you’ll at least have the option. The following website has the application form for NH residents: https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/oos/tcp/applications-forms.htm
I hope I didn’t offend anyone! I just thought it was important to talk about and get the word out there 😊 I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!
Thank you family and friends for being so wonderful! Couldn’t do this without you.
Love Kelly ❤️
Kelly’s Breast Cancer Blog 🎀 