The train

It's strange what still happens every time I open this blog... I am still surpised at seeing only my own posts, it still feels as if a post may show from my dear friend, the creator of the blog. But there appear only my posts now, on the computer screen. Maybe it's not so strange after all, what still happens every time I open this blog...

I realised it's been the third anniversay of the blog... she started it in March 2010... you see? The blog is still alive, as she is in our minds and hearts. Happy 3rd anniversary, dear blog!

The following quotes come from a little piece of a script of a TV series produced many years ago, which I am now watching again thanks to Internet technology. There were chapters dealing with different issues, but mostly about human values such as friendship, comradeship, care for the environment... and also some thoughts about the beloved untimely departed because of some trick of destiny:

"What I've learnt through the years is that it is useless to rebel against death"
"Life is like a train in motion: those who pass away get off the train, while the others continue travelling... but we are never going to cross the same landscape again"

From the train in motion, thinking of you every single day, my very dear friend, YS...

Juicing

I finished the 5 radiotherapy sessions. Now I need some rest combined with some walks to strengthen the muscles. Well, that's what I've been doing so far, so just continue doing it. I feel happy. I had a CT scan before radio started and the lesions in my liver are stable, perfectly under control. All the other organs are clear!

A friend asked me if I was taking Vitamin D. I try to take all kinds of vitamins through a balanced diet. Vitamin D can be found in milk, yogurts, eggs... and it helps the absorption of calcium by the bones. Sunbathing is also good, but I have to be careful and put on 50+ suntan lotion. What I've been doing for a long time is taking low-fat, high-calcium milk and yogurts (low-fat for my liver, high-calcium for my bones). My motto is: "Eat a little bit of everything but not too much of anything" = balanced diet.

My diet is also rich in vegetables and fruits, as they have many vitamins. I also do juicing. A nutritionist specialised in patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments recommended the following combination:

(for 2 people):
· 2 apples
· 4 to 6 carrots (depending on the size)
· some celery
· a slice of ginger, 1cm thick approx. (you need to peel off the skin first)

You rinse, peel, and cut them, mix them in the juice blender and drink it immediately (optimum in a fasting state; that is when you get up and before having your breakfast). The nutritionist said it's very good to detox the liver after chemo treatments. And it is an excellent ingest of vitamins! Besides, you can share it with somenoe else in the house, as it is good for everybody.

There are many combinations of juicing recommended for cancer patients, but this one I find it quite easy to do and, at least to me, it tastes really good. Then, of course, everybody can make their own combinations according to taste and the fruits and vege you have available in your kitchen and fridge.

By the way, artichoke is a very good vegetable for the liver, not only for cancer patients but for everybody. When it's the season I eat them at least twice a week. If you boil them you have to peel off many leaves before, but if you steam them you just need to peel off the outer layer of leaves and cut off the stem so that the artichokes can "stand" in the steamer. I usually steam fish and rice, as well, and of course other vegetables.

Thanks to my friend who asked me if I was taking Vitamin D, I suddenly thought about juicing and sharing this recipe here.

3 rounds of radiotherapy

I already got 3 rounds of radio on my left femur (at the hip level), so just 2 more rounds to go.
These radio sessions last for 10 to 15 min aprox. As they tell me not to move, the first thing I do when the session starts is to concentrate on the invisible rays and telling them: "Ok, go for bad cells! Eliminate bad cells only and let the good ones survive and thrive".

Sometimes funny/crazy thoughts come to my mind during the sessions. Yesterday I suddenly felt like coughing and I strived not to by breathing softly and swallowing some saliva. I succeeded! I was afraid to cough because I thought my body might move and, as radiotherapy acts with such millimetric precision, I was afraid the rays might go somewhere else. And then I suddenly thought: "What if there's an earthquake while people are receiving radio? It seems dangerous, even if it's a light one" I don't live in an earthquake area, but what about people living in areas where earthquakes may happen quite often?" Back home I thought that these radio machines must have a mechanism to make them stop immediately if they notice any slight movement of the earth. I don't know, but I hope so.

Today I was getting bored during the session, so I started mentally singing a couple of songs. I tried to remember the lyrics while silently singing them on my mind (not the slightest movement of my lips). That was good exercise for the memory and it helped me be patient and still during the boring session. Well, I guess they are just mental mechanisms to try to find some amusement in this, while thinking I am given extra power to fight against bad cells :) :) :)

Radiotherapy for left femur

About 15 days ago I had an episode of rather severe pain in my left femur. It was the same kind of pain I had two years ago on my right hip, when 10 sessions of radiotherapy were needed. It worked very well, as radio tends to be very effective for bone tumors. So this time I went to my oncologist right away to explain the symptoms and told her: "I think I need some radiotherapy sessions". She agreed. It's funny how I can diagnose myself. I know these symptoms so well by now (I have some experience :) :) that I can even tell my doctors what I think I need. Of course, they will make the decisions, after carefully exploring, which is what my radiotherapy doctor did this past week. So, the good news is that the bones are strong, no risk of fracture and therefore I can go for 5 radiotherapy sessions, beginning Monday 11th. They think 5 sessions will be enough, this time. So that's good. In the meantime I go on with my oral chemo, as they have been studying my case and there is no need to stop oral chemo while I'm on radio. Great!!!
In January 2011 I went for 10 radio sessions for my right hip bones (mainly head of the femur). Now, March 2013 I'm going for radio for my left hip (also mainly head of the femur)... well, that's my life now.


But there are many positive aspects, the main one being that I feel very well physically, so this is what's important. This 5 radiotherapy sessions are minutia to me, now. It's amazing how our perceptions change when we are faced with all these... I mean that if I were told, let's say, ten years ago, that I would be ready to undergo radio so naturally, I would have thought they were crazy, and now... here I am, looking forward to the radio sessions next week.
I keep fighting as YS would like me to do. Much as I miss her, I can feel her next to me every single day (it feels as if we keep cheering each other up, as we always did) and this gives me extra strength.

I needed to have my scan done again to determine the exact area were radio is required. So, I got to go to the same room where I went last November. In my post dated November 9th 2012 entitled "Some Colour" I described the wall painted with the rocket that I could see while my scan was being performed. This time I took my camera with me and asked the nurse whether I could take a picture. And see her answer! She said: "Yes, of course, I took a picture too, because I also like the painting". And she showed me the best spot in the room to take the picture!!! She was soooo nice, and so kind... So, here's the picture.
Let's never stop adding some colour to our lives!!!