An Update

I happened to run into our blogstar last evening when I stopped by the hospital to visit my Aunt (Aunt Betty had a knee replacement). Wow did Kathy look great! Being finished with kemo certainly agrees with her! This week she has her MRI and another mammogram and then once the doctor has all of that information, they will schedule surgery. While we were discussing how nice the hospital room was, Kathy said she thinks her surgery will be outpatient. Really??!?!? That seems a little cavalier of doctors! "Having a mastectomy? Oh, yeah, that's just a little outpatient thingy."

She will find out more details by next week and you will all be the first (well, not really! maybe the fifth or sixth!) to know.

We were also talking about the surgery horror stories that people tell you. "It was the most painful surgery I ever had." Someone always has to say that. Why do they do it? On the other hand, if you have some helpful hints from your own or a loved one's surgery, please share. You never know what hint will be like the Q-Tip trick that I posted about before.

Suggestions Galore!

Click Here to read But Dr. I Hate Pink's tips for avoiding kemo side effects.  I really like her blogging style--funny and irreverent enough that she had to write a post telling people to go away if they don't like cancer jokes!  As I was browsing her blog, I found this guest post of hers on a breast cancer ezine called Join our Loop. Meanwhile, ChemoBabe has posted about how to How to Talk to a ChemoBabe with some insights into what she is feeling like.  Everyone's reaction to the treatment is different, but I thought these were good tips for people about what a cancer asskicker might be experiencing.

To read other cancer blogs and links, please take a look at the sidebar on the right.  You probably will have to scroll down to see them.  If you find something you think I should include, please let me know in a comment and I will post it.

Books, Books, Books!

Today Kathy goes in to have the port installed.  Think of it as a doggy (or kitty) door for her protector, Kemo!  

Meanwhile, here is a list of books that I have compiled.  I have only read one of them (The Middle Place, which I really liked) but they all come highly recommended from blogs of survivors and the reviews on Amazon or Google Books were 4 or more stars.  They are all linked to author websites or to Google Books where they can be perused.  

Cookbooks

What to Eat During Cancer Treatment, published by the American Cancer Society

The Cancer Fighting Kitchen, by Rebecca Katz

Guides and Memoirs

The Breast Cancer Book, by Ruth H. Grobstein, M.D., Ph.D.

Breast Cancer? Let me check my schedule!, by Peggy McCarthy, Jo An Loren, Donna Cederberg

The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan

Uplift: Secrets from the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors, by Barbara Delinsky

Do You Have Attitude?

Here is another website I have found.  These chemochicks have attitude and a half!  They have put together an interesting site with advice, products, and, most important of all, humor!  Not as funny as Kathy at the Curriculum Committee meetings, but...
;-)

Suggestions

When I started looking online at other cancer blogs, one of the common themes I saw was humor. For example, here is a link to some coping strategies from ChemoBabe.  I've also started to hear suggestions from friends who have experienced cancer or been a support for someone with cancer.  I'm sure Kathy has heard some, too. 


I remember when I had jaw surgery, had my jaw wired shut and was restricted to a liquid diet.  I got lots of suggestions from people.  There were a couple of other people who'd had a similar surgery and they gave me two of the most helpful things.  One was a recipe for a great soup and warning that I would get sick of fruity liquids.  The other (stop reading here if you don't want Too Much Information!) was to get Q-tips to clean out my nose.  (The doctor and nurses didn't tell me ahead of time about this, but I was not allowed to blow my nose for weeks.  The surgery had been on my upper jaw and had involved my nose--however the body's response to insult is mucous production and drainage.  Enough said!)  Anyway, I don't know what I would have done without the Q-tip suggestion!  You would think that the health care professionals would have these kinds of tips, but I guess it takes actually living it to know some things!


So...
I'm looking for suggestions for Kathy.  Somewhere in the list will be indispensable ideas similar to the soup and Q-tips above.  If you've been through it, I'm sure you will have some of these gems.  If you haven't been through it, but know someone who has, ask them what were the two most useful ideas.  Share them here in comments.  Or if you know of a useful website, share the link.  I will be creating a list of links in the sidebar.