Stomach wasn't too happy with me overnight...should have stayed away from the french fries at the ballpark! Too oily to try fried food yet! Otherwise, all is going real well! Went in for my checkup and all tests went well. And Dr. Xiao has come up with a game plan for combating the constipation and nausea issues going forward to the next round of chemo treatments.
So on the way back, I did a little food shopping. A necessary trip because Adina and I HAVE to start eating healthier. We keep talking about it, but as most people do we fall back into that rut of bad habits. So lots of good foods...fruits and veggies, I'm actually a big fan of whole grain bread, some watermelon may be knocked down by me later...heck, I MIGHT even try a piece of kiwi at some point!
Which brings me to my weight! For those that may not have known, at this time last year I weighed 240 lbs! That's not a typo! 240!!! But then, between coaching the girls at Pingry, coaching the girls with the Wings, and playing on the Nighthawks, I was getting a TON of ice time. And my body responded. By seasons end, I had shed 30 pounds down to 210. Gradually, those bad eating habits got me back up to 220, but now with chemo I'm down again to 210.
I say this because either today or tomorrow I'm going to go to Paramus and finally load up my stationary bike from there. I plan on keeping myself in some kind of shape so that when I've been told that my cancer is in remission (or gone altogether), I can at least be somewhat ready to play hockey!
So for the rest of the day...I'm gonna get the dishes done, try to tidy up some other things, and then maybe get to Paramus before I head off to meet up with some of my teammates tonight in their summer league game.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
It's a process, for sure...
Somewhere along the line, I figured that the discomfort would go away and I'd be back to normal, doing things around the house and running out and doing some errands. Ah, but I should know not to just assume these things! The last couple of days have been physically painful, if not frustrating! In the past 36 hours, I've had to take some acetaminophen tablets to subside the pain. No, it wasn't nausea...it was legit pain in my stomach! There still is some pain there, but today it's not as bad as it was yesterday. Slowly, progress is made!
Unfortunately Adina though I was mad at her! I wasn't in much of a talkative mood because I was trying to manage my pain both physically and mentally...not an easy task! But no, I wasn't mad at her at all!
And as the finish for the day...went with Adina, Jason, Joanne, and Luc to a Skyhawks game! Luc's first game was a fun one! Fireworks night! From the Skyhawks themselves, as they scored 12 runs. From the Worcester manager...he got tossed in the 6th! And of course, the fireworks themselves! I ate as I normally would at the game and felt relatively fine! Hopefully I have a week and a half of normalcy before round 2 starts!
Unfortunately Adina though I was mad at her! I wasn't in much of a talkative mood because I was trying to manage my pain both physically and mentally...not an easy task! But no, I wasn't mad at her at all!
And as the finish for the day...went with Adina, Jason, Joanne, and Luc to a Skyhawks game! Luc's first game was a fun one! Fireworks night! From the Skyhawks themselves, as they scored 12 runs. From the Worcester manager...he got tossed in the 6th! And of course, the fireworks themselves! I ate as I normally would at the game and felt relatively fine! Hopefully I have a week and a half of normalcy before round 2 starts!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Ooof last night was a bit tough...
My stomach was not helping me last night. Had to call MSKCC a couple of times to figure out what to do about the pain I was experiencing. Finally, after a couple of pain tablets and the usual round of meds, I'm feeling a bit better now. Temperature stays down, which is good. Wondering what to do for breakfast this morning...either a Fiber One bar, or a bowl of cereal, or maybe english muffins. But any way you cut it, I'm going to try and keep it simple!
Comical moment of the day: Adina was getting ready to take Luc back to Denville (she watches him during the day for the summer). Luc wanted to helped Auntie D with her car keys...and pressed the blue panic button on the home alarm remote! D punched in the code, we figured all would be fine from there...and not too long ago, a Vernon Police Officer showed up! I explained what had happened and apologized, but next time Auntie D has to keep the keys out of Luc's reach!!!
Comical moment of the day: Adina was getting ready to take Luc back to Denville (she watches him during the day for the summer). Luc wanted to helped Auntie D with her car keys...and pressed the blue panic button on the home alarm remote! D punched in the code, we figured all would be fine from there...and not too long ago, a Vernon Police Officer showed up! I explained what had happened and apologized, but next time Auntie D has to keep the keys out of Luc's reach!!!
Monday, July 26, 2010
It's been a week...
Didn't sleep too well last night...stomach acted up, alarms going off, texts coming in, phone calls, etc. But...I gotta drink my fluids and make sure I'm recovering nicely!
My energy level seems to go in waves...and as I type this, I'm in a lull actually! But m biggest concern will still be my stomach...I'm not nauseous but as I told one of the MSKCC nurses who called this morning, it feels like there's something sitting in my stomach. It's probably me not having enough in there, and my stomach reacting accordingly! Oh well...we'll see how the day plays out for me! I'm sensing another bologna sandwich later on!
My energy level seems to go in waves...and as I type this, I'm in a lull actually! But m biggest concern will still be my stomach...I'm not nauseous but as I told one of the MSKCC nurses who called this morning, it feels like there's something sitting in my stomach. It's probably me not having enough in there, and my stomach reacting accordingly! Oh well...we'll see how the day plays out for me! I'm sensing another bologna sandwich later on!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Day 7
Had a good time last night with Sean, CJ, Hamad, and Robb all stopping by in the evening. Adina cooked the hot dogs (a little too much so on a couple of them)! There was also potato salad and some lettuce...and PLENTY of Gatorade! I could only get 2 Strat games in (lost both)! Stayed up a little later than I should have, but that's what sleeping in is for all this time!
Stomach has been acutely been giving me issues since last night. Starting to wonder if hot dogs were the right idea! But we're being cautious still here. Got the meds again to take, ands just overall monitoring on how my body is feeling to make sure I'm not missing anything!
I think we're having more visitors over today. So it's all good!
The visitors today were Joanne, Luc, and Trish. Adina heated up the baked ziti and meatballs that Ken and Amy had sent over yesterday...and damn was that tasty! My stomach is hurting a bit from it, but overall no worries! Also got a call from another D, this being my Srrat buddy Billy's mother. She's a good resource if I have any treatment questions, and always a good ear to talk to (as is Billy and Jack and all of the CHL, for that matter). Can't imagine it's been 8 years since I first started playing Strat hockey in Queens! But I love going there to draft and play, ad can't wait to do it again next season!
And back to the baked ziti...now I have an idea for my mother for future dishes! She doesn't make that "Traditional" baked ziti...hers is essentially ziti first boiled, then yes baked but just with a lot of mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. I think mom needs to add meatballs to it next time. Then it'll become my new favorite dish from her! I'll talk to her about it tomorrow!
Anyway...time to get some rest. Another day of recovery tomorrow!
Stomach has been acutely been giving me issues since last night. Starting to wonder if hot dogs were the right idea! But we're being cautious still here. Got the meds again to take, ands just overall monitoring on how my body is feeling to make sure I'm not missing anything!
I think we're having more visitors over today. So it's all good!
The visitors today were Joanne, Luc, and Trish. Adina heated up the baked ziti and meatballs that Ken and Amy had sent over yesterday...and damn was that tasty! My stomach is hurting a bit from it, but overall no worries! Also got a call from another D, this being my Srrat buddy Billy's mother. She's a good resource if I have any treatment questions, and always a good ear to talk to (as is Billy and Jack and all of the CHL, for that matter). Can't imagine it's been 8 years since I first started playing Strat hockey in Queens! But I love going there to draft and play, ad can't wait to do it again next season!
And back to the baked ziti...now I have an idea for my mother for future dishes! She doesn't make that "Traditional" baked ziti...hers is essentially ziti first boiled, then yes baked but just with a lot of mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. I think mom needs to add meatballs to it next time. Then it'll become my new favorite dish from her! I'll talk to her about it tomorrow!
Anyway...time to get some rest. Another day of recovery tomorrow!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Day 6
Well, it's the first day I don't have to go in for chemo...I get 2 weeks off from any IVs, so that's a welcome sight! I still obviously feel tired, as the drugs haven't quite left my body! I'm also feeling a bit queasy as I woke up this morning, so we'll keep an eye out on that. Otherwise, I'm just hoping that my energy level can pick up as time goes on.
Supposed to have some people over today. Ken is stopping by I think to help Adina bring some bagged leaves to the recycle center. Then later on, it's the Strat crew (Robb, Hamad, Sean...and CJ coming to chill with Adina) for some shenanigans.
And D has just walked in the door from her accupuncture appointment...so we're gonna have some breakfast!
Breakfast was egg challah with butter (damn that stuff tastes good). Now D is back snoozing and I'm on the couch watching ESPN. I still feel tired (again, expected), just wonder how long this will stick around with me. I'll probably take a nap later on before guests swing by later on.
Forget nap time! Before my buddy Ken comes by, Adina wanted to clean out the garage of all the garbage that's in there (including actual garbage, since we don't have bear cans). GROSS! I had to step in to do some serious damage control!!! not how I envisioned spending a Saturday recovering from chemo treatments! But hey...this is what happens when we forget about these small things b/c of the crazy schedule! I pitched in as much as I could before my body started to tell me it wasn't up for it!
Damn Adina knocked that garage out! Ken helped out big time taking bagged leaves as well! Now D can get her car in there again! Had a bologna sandwich, which did go down rather nicely. No backtalk from my stomach yet, which obviously is a good sign! Sean and CJ bringing some hot dogs and salad over in a little bit, and we'll see how that goes! So far, things looking good!
Supposed to have some people over today. Ken is stopping by I think to help Adina bring some bagged leaves to the recycle center. Then later on, it's the Strat crew (Robb, Hamad, Sean...and CJ coming to chill with Adina) for some shenanigans.
And D has just walked in the door from her accupuncture appointment...so we're gonna have some breakfast!
Breakfast was egg challah with butter (damn that stuff tastes good). Now D is back snoozing and I'm on the couch watching ESPN. I still feel tired (again, expected), just wonder how long this will stick around with me. I'll probably take a nap later on before guests swing by later on.
Forget nap time! Before my buddy Ken comes by, Adina wanted to clean out the garage of all the garbage that's in there (including actual garbage, since we don't have bear cans). GROSS! I had to step in to do some serious damage control!!! not how I envisioned spending a Saturday recovering from chemo treatments! But hey...this is what happens when we forget about these small things b/c of the crazy schedule! I pitched in as much as I could before my body started to tell me it wasn't up for it!
Damn Adina knocked that garage out! Ken helped out big time taking bagged leaves as well! Now D can get her car in there again! Had a bologna sandwich, which did go down rather nicely. No backtalk from my stomach yet, which obviously is a good sign! Sean and CJ bringing some hot dogs and salad over in a little bit, and we'll see how that goes! So far, things looking good!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Day 5
It's my mother-in-law's turn today to take me to MSKCC. Last day of treatment for this week. My hair has grown back at a pretty rapid rate! May have to go back down to a 1 again soon! I still get the slight nausea and heartburn from time to time, but nothing major. That and of course the fatigue that comes with chemo. But by and large I can't complain about how the first week has gone! Looking forward to see how my body reacts to 2 weeks of no treatment! But...the day is still young!
Come to find out that the co-ed softball team I was playing for lost their opening playoff game last night. From what I can tell, we're not hitting in the clutch. Grrrrr! I'll have to look at the scoresheet when I get to MSKCC and see what went wrong. My initial thought is people were trying too hard to make things happen again...or "superhero mentality" as I like to call it. But that's just a first thought. The scoresheet will tell me more.
No blogs from MSKCC because I decided to lay low and nap for a while. Been feeling tired a good portion of the day. D wants me to drink the Innergize energy drink she bought for us, but it's making me a bit queasy today. Had some, but didn't finish my glass (yet). Had chicken noodle soup, so it's good that I'm holding stuff down!
Now all that said, I am really hoping that this is the WORST of how I'm going to feel during the treatment...because if this is indeed the worst, then bring it on! My first week of chemo treatment hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. But by all indications, each time it'll get a bit worse...so I'm going to continue to attack this thing head on! I'm sure as hell not going to let testicular cancer dictate how I approach my life or what I want to do with it!
Now...I may have more chicken noodle soup...or some challah (ooh, I love me some egg challah with butter!), maybe I can knock down some more of that Inneergize, or some other relatively bland foods. I'm also going to watch some NFL Network, catch up on e-mails, and do whatever else my body can handle! And maybe come back later to blog some more!
Come to find out that the co-ed softball team I was playing for lost their opening playoff game last night. From what I can tell, we're not hitting in the clutch. Grrrrr! I'll have to look at the scoresheet when I get to MSKCC and see what went wrong. My initial thought is people were trying too hard to make things happen again...or "superhero mentality" as I like to call it. But that's just a first thought. The scoresheet will tell me more.
No blogs from MSKCC because I decided to lay low and nap for a while. Been feeling tired a good portion of the day. D wants me to drink the Innergize energy drink she bought for us, but it's making me a bit queasy today. Had some, but didn't finish my glass (yet). Had chicken noodle soup, so it's good that I'm holding stuff down!
Now all that said, I am really hoping that this is the WORST of how I'm going to feel during the treatment...because if this is indeed the worst, then bring it on! My first week of chemo treatment hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. But by all indications, each time it'll get a bit worse...so I'm going to continue to attack this thing head on! I'm sure as hell not going to let testicular cancer dictate how I approach my life or what I want to do with it!
Now...I may have more chicken noodle soup...or some challah (ooh, I love me some egg challah with butter!), maybe I can knock down some more of that Inneergize, or some other relatively bland foods. I'm also going to watch some NFL Network, catch up on e-mails, and do whatever else my body can handle! And maybe come back later to blog some more!
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