Reason for lack of new posts

As y'all can probably tell, I haven't been keeping up on the blog lately. Well, I have good reason. Today I came home from the hospital...again. On the bright side, at least I didn't enter through the emergency room this time. Let me tell you how it all started.
About three weeks ago, I started to get diarrhea. At first I was freaking out until my radiologist informed me it was the combination of the radiation and chemotherapy. She told me to buy some Imodium-AD to manage the diarrhea. For one and a half weeks, I dealt with this annoying, but at the time manageable issue.
Then my appetite started to wane. On Friday, I started to vomit back my food. On Saturday, my fiance's brother came over and commented how my activity level had decreased. And it was true...I really didn't feel like eating much.
Sunday I tried to drink more fluids, including Gatorade, which is more hydrating than water, according to the oncology nurses. On Monday I meant to call the oncology department to let them know of the situation, but surprise -- I didn't have the energy to do that either. Meanwhile I was still dry heaving and vomiting up my Carnation Instant Breakfasts.
Finally, my fiance made me call the oncology department at Kaiser South Sacramento. The nurse told me to come on in and they would hydrate me. My fiance picked me up and after I got the energy to leave the house, he drove me to Kaiser.
At the oncology department, after taking my vitals from both standing and sitting down, they hooked me up to a mixture of Dextrose and Sodium Chloride. During that one bag, I was starting to feel better. I even felt like eating...and did eat three package of Keebler crackers. I tell you, those were the best tasting crackers in the world.
The nurses, after talking with my oncologist Dr. Stephen Wang (pronounced Wong), said that they would admit me to a room upstairs. At that point, I really didn't have any options. About 5 p.m., I finally got a room.
Now this visit to the hospital was better than the last time for one reason -- Popsicles. The nurses on the third floor had a plethora of Popsicles available. Grape, orange and cherry was available at my request. It was beautiful and tasty.
I stayed in the hospital for a total of four days. Within those four days, not only did I discover that soup of artichoke is not completely disgusting, but also I had a CT scan. At least with this CT scan, I drank two banana shake contrasts, which is a whole lot better than drinking two jugs full of salty water with some sort of powdery flavoring.
The result of the CT scan is the main tumor in my rectal area had shrunk from the previous chemotherapy/radiation session. Dr. Wang was expecting this. However, more tumors have formed in my liver.
So what is next for me? I was given the option of either staying in the hospital during the weekend and receiving chemotherapy or leaving today and coming back on Monday to start this session. I opted for coming back on Monday so I could have one last weekend of good food.
This next session will last two or three weeks and will be twice as intense as the last session. The only setbacks are fatigue, nausea and continued hair thinning.
Well, I'm going to eat the rest of my dinner, so I will be back with you folks tomorrow. Take care and be good to each other. (That was my bad imitation of Walter Cronkite).

Asians fight for cancer

Thanks to my friend Linda, I thought this would be a nice addition to my blog. I don't want to fight just for my cause, but to help others as well. If you are of Asian ancestry, please register with www.aadp.org and see if you can save a life.

No more tight clothes

Up until mid-March 2008, I dressed like a typical young woman. I used to wear tight-fitting Wrangler jeans that were comfortable to wear, while soothing my self-esteem, along with sports T-shirts and designer tops that complimented my body above the waist.

I was in a good place and it showed through my clothes. I had a fantastic boyfriend, I was pretty sure that Sacramento State was confident enough that I finally finished my bachelor’s degree and I was actually using my government-journalism degree as the city government reporter with The Elk Grove Citizen.

However, one operation changed my clothes lifestyle since then.

The doctors at Mercy San Juan Hospital in Citrus Heights performed an ileostomy on me in March.

Ileostomy surgeries have been performed since 1972, first by Swedish Dr. Nils Kock, to ensure continence. Basically, doctors open up the belly, separate a lower part of the smaller intestine, flip the end inside-out and stick it through a small incision on the belly. This procedure allows the small intestine to bypass the large intestine. Food, which would have gone through the large intestine to be digested and excreted the normal way, is now passed through the small intestine and come out a stoma (the flipped-inside-out end).

The ileostomy pouches, which were also developed in 1969 by Dr. Kock, have improved incredibly over the decades, said Michael Makrakis, a wound specialist at Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento.

Pouches now can either be clickable or mesh-like to allow gas to pass through without any solid waste to escape.

I personally have a normal pouch, where I have to empty it a couple times a day and I have to change the bag every four or five days.

To make me feel a little bit normal, Makrakis gave me several nets that I pull up to my waist and it holds my folded pouch, allowing me to wear pants and not having to worry if anyone could see the bottom of my pouch. The pouch only shows slightly when the pouch is getting full.

Ileostomy pouches are not used solely by colorectal cancer patients. There is another condition called Crohn’s Disease

According to Righthealth.com, Crohn’s Disease “is a chronic, episodic, inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract characterized by transmural inflammation and skip lesions.”

Between these two diseases, among others not listed here, there is actually a high number of people who have ostomies that you probably weren’t even aware. Besides everyday workers, such as lawyers, politicians, grocery clerks and postal workers, famous people have ostomies.

One of the most famous is President Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to Evansville Ostomy News. He had chronic dry Crohn’s Disease. Five days after he had an ostomy performed, he was back conducting official executive decisions.

Football fans may be surprised to discover that Rolf Benirschke, the placekicker for the San Diego Chargers in the late 1970s had ulcerative colitis and had an ostomy surgery in his third season, according to Evansville Ostomy News.

“Charmed” and “Beverly Hills 90210” star Shannon Doherty, also a sufferer of Crohn’s Disease, also had an ostomy, according to Evansville Ostomy News.

Essentially, life doesn’t have to end because either these people or I have an ostomy. Technically, I can go swimming, although being totally self-conscious, I would never go out in my bikini with my pouch. Sorry, but it took me seven years to be comfortable enough to buy a bikini after my scoliosis surgery.

I can also go exercising, go out to restaurants, movies, concerts and clubs with my friends. I can even spend quality, quiet time with my fiancé.

However, right now the only thing I cannot do is wear half of my wardrobe. Come fall, I will have to buy either slightly wider jeans or buy something that I completely hate – low-rise jeans. I already do not have hips, so I will have to get used to keep pulling up my pants. Sorry to be crude, but those low-rise jeans are one fad I hope to go in the way of leisure suits and never to return.

As far as my oncologist knows, my ileostomy should not be permanent and possibly by the end of the year, it should be reversed. I will throw a party that day, especially when I think of my wedding day and having to wear an ileostomy underneath a white dress and excusing myself several times to empty it.

Until then, I monitor my pouch, making sure it does not get too full and change it twice a week.

Good and bad days

Cancer is just one big roller coaster. You either feel really good or you feel like you shouldn't have gotten out of bed.
Take this last week for example. On Monday I was feeling good until I went into the Oncology center of Kaiser South Sacramento. Right after the nurse gave me some anti-nausea medication, I got sick right in the middle of the room. The 2,000-calorie meal from Burger King that I had for lunch just came right back up.
Fortunately, the nurses understood and allowed me to clean up. Afterward, as I sat back down, I tried to avoid any eye contact with any of the other patients because it's pretty embarrassing to vomit in public.
One of the nurses sat down next to me and reminded me that I was in a room where people are used to getting sick. Also, if I'm going to be sick, I might as well get sick in a hospital. She gave me a new blanket and filled up my water bottle and allowed me to sleep while the strong drugs pumped into my body.
However, this was only the beginning of my bad week. Our special friend diarrhea came and visited me for a day or two, leaving me scared if there was another blockage in my ileostomy. My radiologist reassured me that the diarrhea could be a result of the treatments and possibly the tumor is shrinking. She smiled and said this is normal and to take some Imodium-AD.
So my week sounds pretty bad, right? Don't worry...it gets better. For three mornings, I couldn't get up past noon because of cramps. It was just Mother Nature's sick reminder that I shouldn't have children. Luckily, the medication that eases my normal pain is strong enough to take care of that annoying pain.
This week was really the first time that I truly felt the full effects of the chemotherapy since I started four weeks ago. Before, I have dealt with symptoms like mild hair loss and sensitive peripheral nerves, where my fingers, toes and throat become very sensitive to coldness. It makes eating ice cream, drinking Jamba Juice and other high calorie treats hard to ingest.
And you all must remember, I'm not on the strong chemotherapy yet. I have one or two more weeks of this session, followed by a two or three week break to allow my bone marrow to recuperate. The break will also allow me to try to gain some weight since this week I did not feel like eating much.
Now on the flip side, there are days when I feel like I could walk to San Francisco and back. One Saturday, after house-hunting in Elk Grove for a few hours, my fiance and I went to the mall for an hour. I collapsed on my couch afterward and slept for two hours straight, but earlier that day, I felt normal.
On other days where I do feel well, but not enough to join in a relay race, I have enough energy to either go grocery shopping or have a quick lunch with friends. Or I may have enough strength to write this column.
During my treatment, the only thing I can do is just to prepare for any type of day. I get as much rest as I can, try not to do any strenuous activities, eat as much as I can throughout the day without getting sick and take my anti-nausea medication if I do not feel well.
So as I relax on the weekend while I'm not connected to the chemotherapy, I mentally prepare for the next week and keep reminding myself that this session should be ending soon.