All posts tagged: cancer

After cancer treatment what next?

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Surviving Cancer is a tough trip.   After the treatment is done,  before the next tests,  there will always be the worry that the cancer will come back.  There will be the worry that a new one will soon reveal its ugly form.  After all, the body betrayed itself once. Then,  after all the dust has settled and friends and family have disappeared back into their own lives,  the long term effects of treatment settle into roost.  Fatigue.  Fatigue and more fatigue.  So common.  So very hard to deal with.  Chemo brain. Peripheral neuropathy.  Feeling fragile.  Being fragile.  Reality.  Then there is the huge financial upheavals. Maybe a visit to the Caring Hearts Support Group at Kaseman in Albuquerque is in order. This group embodies what human spirit is all about.  A  group sharing a common experience, meeting for a late lunch, a presentation by a medical oncology specialist, time for talking. People who understand your issues and are willing to help.  Be brave come for a visit. Caring Hearts Support Group meets in six …

Cancer Club Thought of the day: how about no choice in the matter

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Cathy, my very dear sister-in-law, and I were having one of our long conversations.  She is in New York.  I am here.  If we were in the same place, we would spend a lot of time together.  She was saying we have no choice but to carry on.  We were discussing difficult times and when someone says, “How’s it going?”,  she says what choice do we have but to say fine because we have to carry on. Her husband, my brother, died of metastatic colon(appendix) cancer about two and a half years ago.  She’s had a hard time.  They were married over 40 years. They were a good fit.  Being alone has been hard for her. I am always missing my brother so it has been hard for me too. I have two cancers.  I had to be tested, to have surgery, to have radiation treatments, to have new pills and then more doctors’ visits.  New news is shocking, life changing.  There is the adjustment period. Then  adaptation and just keep going.  With the nature …

Cancer Club thoughts-zoo music

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Shaggy bleached blond at 9 years old.  He was on the heavy side but solidly built.  Beat up old sports shirt. He stood solid in his shoes. He knew who he was and where he stood in the world and was fine with it.  He had a sureness about him many adults wished they possessed. He followed the rules. He did ask his mom if it would be okay if he walked around. Off he went with his cousin, a boy who also had a devilish glint. We are at zoo music. Paula Cole is the entertainment. Lounging in lawn chairs after a picnic of summer delights. Feeling good. Under the trees. On the grass. Surrounded by an amazing supply of people just right for people watching. Good to be with friends. I just finished my 6th week of Cancer Rehab at the Healthplex. I am stronger. I have better balance. The program is doing what I had hoped. I am rebuilding. I will be healthier or I will have more stamina for the next …

Cancer Club thoughts-helping

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Cancer victims have concrete problems.  Cancer makes a person face his mortality.  Suddenly life is no longer taken for granted.  Survival becomes an issue.  Add to that the  scary thought of the big C spreading throughout the body.  There is a feeling of loss of control. Unnerving!  Life becomes uncertain forever. Still, many cancer worries are  about everyday issues. Am I going to be able to function independently during treatment?  Where do I turn for help? How do I get to the pharmacy for prescriptions?  How to I make meals when I feel so sick?  What if I become very sick during the night, will I die alone?  How will I pay for my treatment?  Are my friends avoiding me because I have cancer? Cancer can be fatal. Some cancers can be cured. Cancer can also be a chronic condition. There are many cancers that cannot be cured but can be managed. These cancers require careful monitoring and intermittent treatment.  Cancer can recur. It can recur any time after treatment. It can recur after years of …

Cancer Club Thoughts for the day: MOJO

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I am working a plan to get my mojo back. Still recovering from two radiation treatments with more treatments on the horizon, I’m still a woman of little energy. The Health Plex associated with Presbyterian Hospital Systems here in ABQ offers a 10 week cancer rehabilitation program called Thrive. I decided that it was just what I needed. On my last visit to my endocrinologist, I did persuade her to sign off on the program. I paid my $90 and submitted my paperwork. Fairly quickly I had an appointment with an exercise specialist for an evaluation.  Vitals, O2 sat, balance, body fat, weight(ugh!) and all those important numbers to see where my fitness level stood. The next day I was started on a plan with several exercise machines. The routine is to check in and have my blood pressure, O2 sat and well being checked. On Tuesday and Thursday I work the machines supervised. Pulse rate is checked between machines. BP and sat are checked  when I am done. Monday I go to a special …

Cancer Club thoughts for the day

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It’s your fault that you have cancer. Wow! I started listening to a meditation tape on cancer given by a dear friend. The first thing this woman says on tape is it that it’s your fault you have cancer. I was shocked. Fortunately, I don’t believe it. It was still unnerving. Cancer starts with the change of one single cell in your body. If you caused cancer by being stressed, by being too fat, by not eating the right things, by not exercising enough, we would all have cancer, most of us anyway. It makes the assumption that we have more control than we do. Some people we encounter would love to think we did something wrong to get cancer. Then, the theory goes,  if they avoid that something, they will not get cancer. The randomness of cancer is all too scary. Cancer happens. The question is not what we did wrong. The question is how do we deal with it.