You've Got a Sven!

Yesterday's excitement consisted of a follow up oncology appointment to prep for chemo which officially is set to start next Wednesday. I brought Sven (from Frozen) along for moral support, cause as you may know, reindeer and excellent at moral support. I have an ongoing Pinterest board documenting the adventures of Olaf and Sven that I would love to have you all check out.






So apparently chemo is not going to be four days as I had previously

expected, but rather three days, four different times. So next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I will spend most of the day getting pumped full of chemicals that will supposedly help reduce the risk that my cancer will spread. It is a bit alarming, not knowing what side effects may occur, but after a great deal of consideration I chose this path and hope it will all go relatively smoothly. Rumor has it that the first round is the worst, so if I don't post anything around those days it probably means I am too out of it and will return to posting the next time I feel human.

Becoming a cyborg!

Ok, so maybe not really becoming a cyborg, but getting stuff installed into your body does seem kinda cyborg-like to me. Today's big excitement was a trip back to the hospital to get the port installed for chemotherapy. While this is obviously minor surgery compared to what I have already been through all surgery is terrifying and don't let anyone tell you different. It was somewhat comforting that each nurse I spoke with laughed about how minor this one would be in comparison, and one even called it 'cake'. It was definitely much shorter, and I woke up feeling alert, not dizzy or nauseous, and my only real problem was a desperate desire to go to the restroom, which I was not allowed to do for thirty minutes (I know, TMI, but for those of you going through similar circumstances I just thought I'd share).

Home now and resting, though getting comfortable is not coming easily. One more hour until I'm allowed more pain killers so hopefully I'll be able to sleep after that.

To The Farmers Market We Go

Yesterday we trekked out to the LA Farmers Market for fun and adventure before today's surgery to put in my chemo port. For the unfamiliar, the LA Farmers Market is a cultural landmark in LA. Unlike the temporary farmers markets that spring up in various cities on given mornings, the LA Farmers Market is a series of permanent stalls adjacent to The Grove off of Fairfax.

While it is ironic that I'm writing about food on a day I am fasting (as required for surgery), if you are looking for a fun foodie experience in LA, this is the place. While there is a fruit and vegetable stall, this farmers market has multiple stalls to buy meats, as well as a charming french market and food and gift stalls galore. While there is both a Starbucks and a Coffee Bean at this location, for a unique coffee experience I would encourage you to try The Gumbo Pot who serves a delectable coffee with chickory. For food, my number one recommendation is The French Crepe Company who serve a wide range of both savory and sweet crepes to please everyone.

Luckily, for people like me who can't walk very far without getting exhausted, this market packs a lot of excitement into a small and contained space. It also features a lot of seating scattered throughout for whenever you need a rest break. Well, time to get ready to head to the hospital so wish me luck!

Go Fund Me Campaign

Even with medical insurance, trying to fight a catastrophic illness like cancer is insanely expensive. While I worked through the diagnosis stages, this has all gone quickly dramatic since my hospital admission in early March. Having contracted pneumonia after my first biopsy I spent nearly a month in the hospital, first for a second biopsy and then for a thoracotomy, which is widely considered one of the most difficult surgeries to recover from and during which they removed an entire lobe of my lung.

While I have been home for a few weeks now on disability, trying to recover from the surgery and working with a physical therapist, chemo is looming in the near future. Currently I am just waiting on insurance approvals to get the port surgically installed.

I have recently been informed that my daughter has started a Go Fund Me campaign to try and help cover some of my medical expenses. I am profoundly grateful to all who have donated so far. You have no idea how much your support means to me.

Cancer Sucks: The Backstory

First of all, if you have a cough that just won't go away, go to the doctor and get it checked out. That was how this all started for me. I was miserably sick for about a week at the end of November 2014. It was just one of those things, but the cough kinda hung around. I didn't think much about it, just chalking it up to asthma. It wasn't until December that my daughter came to visit and expressed concern over my cough and general breathing sounding funny to her. It was at her urging that I went to the doctor in January. A quick in-office xray revealed what I was told might be a mass in my right lung. Since it was possible that it was just pneumonia I tried antibiotics for two weeks, but when a second chest xray showed that mass was still there I was scheduled for a CT. The radiology report recommended a PET scan and/or biopsy to determine what was going on in my lung so I quickly got both of those scheduled. The PET revealed suspicious but inconclusive results. The first biopsy similarly revealed inconclusive results. However, I had an incredibly hard time recovering from the biopsy, suffering three days of what turned out to be pneumonia before ending up in the ER.

Since I was having such a hard time breathing I was admitted to the hospital during which time it was determined that they would need to do a second biopsy. When that one also turned out 'inconclusive' it was recommended that I go ahead and have an entire lobe of my right lung removed by a process called a thoracotomy. That was not fun. If you research it, you will find that it is one of the most difficult and painful surgeries to try and recover from. They make a massive incision, spread your ribs, and cut out a piece of lung. This left me in ICU for about a week with virtually no memory of the first few days after surgery although I was told that I was conscious and responsive. The pain level is truly hard to explain although the hospital did a decent job of keeping me medicated to try and alleviate it. Because the first few days were so bad I ended up with multiple blood clots in my left arm causing it to also swell and be quite painful though I got lucky that they didn't break loose and cause any more trouble.

At the end of my hospital stay it was recommended that I go to a nursing home for a short time while they made continued adjustments to my medication. That was actually the worst decision of this entire process. While I had felt that I was successfully recovering while in the hospital, my week in the nursing home seemed to not only stop my recovery but make me feel worse. They couldn't cope with my vegetarian requirements, getting nearly every meal wrong and pretty much leaving me to eat grilled cheese for every lunch and dinner. I was expected to share a room with three people, one of which was in extremely bad shape, pre-surgery, and necessitating nurses come in multiple times a night turning on lights and making massive amounts of noise. It was nearly impossible to sleep for more than about 20 minutes at a time. My own blood was drawn between 4 and 5AM every day. I was basically begging to be released home every day until they finally said yes. While I understand that nursing homes are a necessity, this is not a good option for surgery recovery if you can possibly avoid it.

I am now home and working on my recovery before entering into the chemo step of this process. 

Live well....eat well: UC Irvine Area Farmers Market

Like most things, there is endless debate about how much healthy eating makes positive contributions to your health. For every article you read about the benefits of drinking organic juices, for example, there is another article that says not to drink juice at all. But, as an officially seriously ill person, my personal opinion is that when I eat well, I feel better. That does not preclude the occasional treat, but eating and drinking fresh, homemade, organic products definitely seem to me to be a good choice.

On Saturday mornings (8am-Noon) Irvine hosts what is arguably the best farmers market in Orange County. Formerly housed in a shopping center parking lot at UC Irvine, the market has recently moved down the road into the Mariners Church parking lot at 5001 Newport Coast Dr. The produce at this market is so insanely popular that you will spot not only a wide range of general patrons, but a number of professional chefs who show up each Saturday morning to stock up on awesome foodstuffs for the following week.

Since we were pretty well stocked already, this weeks haul focused largely on juice. We bought both organic orange juice and organic blood orange juice for only $4 a bottle, as well as individual serving size bottles of apple-cherry organic cider, and apple-pomegranate juice. There was also an awesome stand that sells small batch salsas, both green and red, that are fresh, flavorful and all around amazing. We also picked up a dozen organic, free range eggs for under $5. The 'occasional treat' for this week was an amazing cinnamon roll covered in maple frosting, from the donut stand that makes amazingly fresh, gourmet quality donuts.

This farmers market is not only a great source of good food, but a great excuse to make a short excursion out of the house without too much strain and effort for those of us currently disabled by drastic illness. Since chemo will be starting soon, I may not make it out much for a few months, so all of you need to go check it out and support this market in my absence.

The Kindly Prince of Trader Joe's

While my cancer fight has been underway for several months now (will fill in more of the backstory later) I am finding that every day is a new adventure. On one of my rare adventures out since my surgery in March we made a brief stop at Trader Joe's Brea for a few groceries. By the time we made it to check out I felt overwhelmed and took the keys to go sit in the car. So, it was with great surprise that when my daughter brought the groceries to the car she handed me a bouquet of lovely flowers, a gift from the gentleman who had rung up our groceries. As anyone who has ever shopped at Trader Joe's knows, the checkers are a friendly and conversational bunch and so when my daughter mentioned having moved back to California to take care of me during my cancer fight, the checker darted from his stand to go pick out the most beautiful bouquet to bring to me, along with his wishes that it make me smile. Now you can go on all you like about what a disconnected, uncaring world we live in, but now and again, the kindness of a total stranger really shows that it's not as bad as you think.