The Joys of Chemically Induced Side Effects

This latest chemo treatment - or should I say the latest side effects - really took me by surprise. The weekend was pretty standard. I had my chemo infusions on Wed/Thurs/Fri, then spent Saturday and Sunday riding out the lethargy, flu-like symptoms and the feeling of being poisoned. Nothing terrible or shocking. Pretty routine.

But Monday and Wednesday - they were gems! On both days I had super-intense migraines within the first couple hours of being awake. Normally, if I take two Aleve and go to sleep for an hour, I will wake up with a numbness where the headache was, but no migraine pain. However, on Monday & Wednesday both of these migraines were only about 80% gone following the Aleve and the nap. I was shocked. Fortunately, a couple Extra-Strength Tylenol took away most of the remaining pain. But I do have to say I was just amazed by the intensity of the pain.

Once the second migraine hit on Wednesday, Daniela called my chemo doctor and they called in a script for migraine medicine for me. Part of me is actually confronted by is the idea of putting additional chemicals into my body - to counter the effects of previously administered chemicals. Chemically induced side effects being treated with more chemicals? I'm clear this is a very common approach in allopathy aka Western Medicine: "Here are your pills and here are the pills to deal with side effects of those other pills. That may be how western is medicine done, but it doesn't mean I like it. And I have to ask myself, "What will the side effects of these latest drugs be and how will I deal with them?" Hopefully the side effects will be minimal.

Yes, it will all eventually come to an end at the end of March when the chemotherapy regimen is complete, which is what I keep in mind: the ultimate goal. And I will without a doubt cleanse the living daylights out of my body once this chemotherapy regimen is complete. Carrot juice & coffee enemas? Maybe. I'll know what's next when I get there. But one way or another I will be cleansing my system in the Spring and getting these toxic chemicals the heck on out of my system!

Reflection

During the morning I felt great. I wrote a song for one of the staff - she requested it - although her request was in Espanol and she had to ask me a couple of times before I understood her. I am at the point where I am just beginning to understand a ridiculously small amount of Spanish. I catch a verb and a pronoun and start to pull together what's being said. There's no chance I can repeat it...yet! So I threw together a sweet little tune about what a nice job she does and her beautiful smile - all in Espanol. That was a challenge! It's kind of hard to remember the words when I've never used them in my life. I will sing it for her tomorrow.

I never thought I would be looking forward to coffee enemas!!! They provide SO MUCH relief when I'm going through a flare-up. "Who'd a thunk that?" (quote from Dave Wheeler...Pittsburg '92) addressing Brotha D. Sorry. That last entry will make no sense to you if you weren't at Deer Creek with us in '92. On that note, God Bless the Grateful Dead Family. We love you Jerry!!!

Oh yeah, coffee enermas. Who would think I would be so looking forward to them. Before Gerson Therapy, ALIEVE would of done the trick just fine. No more. Now I do coffee enemas to get rid of headaches. And the worst part is that laughing makes them very difficult to retain. And trust me, there's a laughing going on during the process. I won't share any of the things we say on this blog during these enemas. Your mother might be reading this!!!

Update

This morning I felt great. This afternoon felt lethargic. I got into bed and watched a little bit of Spinal Tap the movie then fell asleep. When I woke up my head was pounding. All of these feelings of sickness are a result of the detoxification process. In other words, experiencing it is a good sign. It means the body is detoxifying...powerfully. The doctors have explained that my healing crises (aka detox flare-ups) will begin to occur in a continuous pattern, i.e., every 14 days or so. Eventually my body will create its own cycle and I'll be able to anticipate them. I felt much better following the coffee enema: headache nearly gone and lethargy reduced (caffeine in the blood stream is caffeine in the blood stream). FYI - A coffee enema consists of coffee, aloe vera juice, chamomile tea & distilled water. The goal is to retain it for 15 minutes and it definitely takes something to do that.

Reflection

Yesterday I went to the beach. Juan the maintenance man gave me a ride. He dropped me off and I sat for a while and was met by Chris Stadelmaier (my Gerson companion) and another guest and two other companions. It took about 15 minutes for me to be captured by the motion of the sea. There's a lot of letting go here at Baja Nutricare. Letting go of the desire for comfort food is the easy part. Letting go of my active lifestyle is a little tougher. Gerson Therapy requires REST REST REST. I feel a little stir crazy, not being able to walk, but I guess I'll get used to it.

So there I was at the beach - irritated, uncomfortable, wishing I hadn't gone. It seems it's all a part of this process. Letting go of how I've done things for most of my life. So, I thanked my feelings for sharing and looked back out onto the sea. Then it captured me and I would have stayed for hours given the opportunity. But considering it would have required me to do a coffee enema right there on the beach, I opted for a timely return to the privacy of my room. As we left, I hoped we would see more dolphins and far more play on their part. The few dolphins we saw were not launching out the water (apparently they were yesterday). Instead they occasionally surfaced and soon they were gone.

I am learning rudimentary Spanish (having "studied" it in college may be having a little impact - but not much!) Didn't do so well at the ole Espanol. We have fun with the staff though. Many of them know little to no English, so we teach each other.