Chemo 2-2

We had 2 days of wet, icky weather, with yesterday having 15cm of wet blowing snow.  It was below 0, windy and generally miserable — heck of a day to have to go out and deal with appointments.  The roads were slippery and the wind actually fought the car!  All’s well, though, and Don has strong wrists, so it was all uneventful, thankfully.  Jerry is more settled today as the wind has calmed down and moved to the other side of the building so it’s not unsettling him too badly.  He’s curled up on Don’s blanket on the sofa, pretending to nap, but he’s alert to any movement or crumb falling in the area 🥹  Don’s ok, watching a game, which I think was recorded, but he’s awake and fully absorbed in the game, which is one of those that just drags on with no useful resolution.  I’m told it’s a “game of strategy” but honestly, it’s not cricket and the level of spitting and scratching cancels any potential interest!

I’m happy to report that chemo had ZERO reactions yesterday!  This time I followed my doctor’s instructions (hush!  I know!) and took all of my meds before the treatment, so when I got home I was able to eat and keep everything down!  My sugar readings were high because of the steroids, but they’re under control thanks to my treatment plan.  According to the scale in the chemo unit, I now weigh 112lbs, which is not an actual weight IMO.  I’ve set a timer on my phone to remind myself to eat every 2 hours, or at least have some Ensure, to slow the reduction.  I should be doing happy dances, as my regular support worker returned today, but she told me that she’s considering leaving as she’s exhausted from the 11- and 12-hour days, 12 days in a row.  I hope she doesn’t, and if calling the agency and my care manager can affect that, I will… she’s so good!  But I can’t endanger her health for my own needs, so here’s hoping.

I feel the need to explain a couple of medical terms (and hopefully I don’t cause my doctors to jump down my throat for getting them wrong.)  I want to discuss the difference between in vitro and in vivo results.  The former (from the Latin for “within glass”) are results obtained in a lab under controlled conditions where all factors are known and accounted for in the course of an experiment.   The latter (from the Latin for “in the living”) are results obtained in clinical practice or “in real life” where a treatment is carried out on whole, living organisms, instead of on a biopsy or necropsy (autopsy or dead body).  They both have roles to play in developing treatments, understanding how diseases proliferate and are treated, and in examining the behaviours of illnesses like the tumours in a cancer.  It’s more complicated than this, but I just wanted to provide a brief summary of the two and their differences.  The reason that I bring this up is that there are quite a lot of tests done in vitro that might give great results which do not translate to real life.  Responsible research will do both types of testing, so that they ensure that any findings are clear, consistent and reproducible.  There are situations where an in vitro test fails in vivo and therefore the drug or treatment is never made public.  There are other cases where changes need to be made before a lab result can be used live.  I mention this because far too many people confuse the two and will hype up positive stories about lab results that don’t translate into the real world.  The problem with that is that Dr. Google becomes the source of misinformation, and there are messages and videos circulating about “miracle cures,” and homeopathic “medicines” that are alleged to destroy tumours.  As with anything else, please check your contents and your sources before spreading misinformation and lies.  It’s exhausting for me (and I’m sure other patients) to have to keep sending people to fact checkers to point out that lemon juice, while a GREAT cure for scurvy, has no impact on cancer.  Or that drinking ‘green water’ is healthy.  (Water is not green.)  Or that ‘alkaline water’ is a thing.  Or that you need ‘cleansing’ or a ‘detox’ — just a hoax to separate you from your money.  Finally, the story of the ‘friend of a friend’s cousin’s sister’s husband’s niece from church’ is not reliable information, and probably didn’t happen the way you imagine.  As I’ve said before, I do believe strongly in miracles, but they must be directly attributable to divine intervention and beyond natural control — and preferably certified by the Church.

Sorry for the rant; I’m tired of getting messages telling me to stop chemo, that chemo is poison and I should try more “natural” approaches.  I have this desire to live as long as possible, and medical science makes that possible, so I’ll trust my medical team over an internet message of unsubstantiated provenance.  My timer has just gone off, so I’m in search of something to eat… Good night.