For those of you who follow my social media page, or perhaps even look at pictures on this website, you might think that I don’t look too bad. When I see people out in public, they often comment on how great I look. First off, Thank You!!! That is very kind!
I want to let you know that Battling Cancer is not always pretty! I have definitely had some rough days along the way. But for anyone who really knows me, I am stubborn and a fighter. I do not give up. But I do Look Up! Yes, a lot of my strength comes from my faith in the Lord. I think of what He has suffered for me and realize that what I am going through is really nothing at all. He gives me hope in my darkest days.
I am sharing pictures of some of my difficult days. I do not have that many pictures of that because let’s be honest, who wants their picture taken when they are feeling miserable? I do have a picture from last summer when I had to go back to the hospital post-surgery because my intestines were not working. I guess you could say that I was “full of crap!” Those two days with a hose up my nose were horrible!
I had a pretty bad day just a little over a week ago. But people don’t see me on my bad days, such as that one, because I stay in bed all day. Except for the few times I was hurling over the toilet or pacing the floor, trying to get the pain to go away, I mainly stayed in bed until that night when I was finally feeling better.
Some of the chemotherapy rounds had been tough. But it was not until I went back on Folfox in November that I really had what people think of when you have chemotherapy. Apparently, when you restart on Folfox, your body has built a defense against the medications so that you have severe adverse reactions. I was given Benadryl, sometimes twice, with each treatment to fight the reactions. The first five cycles were so rough that I would spend about four days in bed with consistent nausea and vomiting, and unable to eat. However, a week before my sixth cycle, I started doing these alternative treatments. That night, I came home and was able to eat dinner and go out for my 30-minute walk. I did not spend days in bed like before. From that point on, I really started to turn around. I still occasionally had some days with nausea/vomiting, but they were not often.
I have since gone to a maintenance dose of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the tumors are growing and the pain is increasing. So, I will soon be starting on another chemotherapy regimen. But if you see me out and about with smiles on my face, that’s because God has blessed me with another good day.
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Jeannie, your faith is humbling and inspiring. Thank you for sharing your challenging days. I am happy to read that on your sixth cycle, your body handled the chemo a bit better when you started adding helpful alternative therapy. I know regular medical insurance doesn’t cover this type of therapy, and I can only imagine the costs of these therapies that help you feel better as you battle Stage 4 Colon Cancer. What do you estimate that you need financially – roughly on a weekly basis – to help offset the costs of things like your vitamin C IV, oxygenated water, and other therapies that you rely on to help your body endure and battle the chemo treatments?