Yesterday was the beginning of the second round of chemo. I have the 24/7 home pump version and get it removed on Friday. Using earplugs at night helps to block out the every 30 second hum of the pump. Maybe some of you who have had this don’t pay attention to it, but it can be annoying. I pretend it’s singing HU (an ancient name for God) to me.

I’m really doing pretty well with the side effects, so far. The tissue hasn’t started peeling yet, but the doctor says that will likely happen by next week. I will also get to look forward to a few days off to let the skin heal. That doesn’t hurt my feelings, lol. The dietition suggested that I start drinking a product called Juven. It has HGB, L-Glutamine and L-Arginine and helps promote wound heeling. It’s really working well for me as I haven’t had to take but 1/2 of a pain pill in the last week. Read the rest of this entry

One of my favorite daytime shows is Rachael Ray. She seems like a down to earth kind of gal who’d make a great next door neighbor. I love how easy her recipes are and have incorporated several of them into our daily menu.

My Version Of Rachael Ray’s  Onion Soup

Last night I made  Onion Soup. Since I didn’t have some of the ingredients Rachael’s recipe called for I improvised. That’s actually how I cook anyway. Sometimes I follow a recipe and most of the time I make it up as I go along. Mine turned out just as good as her’s and just as easy. Read the rest of this entry

So far I’ve finished eleven radiation treatments (out of 30) and one week of continuous chemo. The side effects of chemo and radiation are catching up with me now.

Losing My Hair

This morning I was running my fingers through my wet hair and came back with a handful of short salt and pepper hair in my hand. I thought it was feeling a bit thinner. Shortly before I started chemo on Dec. 28th I had my hair cut short so that in case I did lose it, the baldness wouldn’t be such a shock. It’s been almost 2 1/2 weeks since chemo and now I’m losing my hair. It’s a good thing I have an extensive hat collection. I’m shedding all over the place. If it turns out that the hair falls out in bunches, I’d rather just go ahead and shave my head rather than have patches of hair missing. Read the rest of this entry

My symptoms included occasional blood in the stool and  anal itching. Had I been more aware that these are symptoms of anal cancer I would have gone to the doctor much sooner than I did. As it happens, the tumor was already 3 cm. I don’t know if the treatment protocol would have been different and I’m lucky the cancer hadn’t spread. Since getting an early diagnosis is important, go see your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms: Read the rest of this entry

This article is a guest post by Nova Sprick, an anal cancer survivor. It has been published here with her permission. She doesn’t have a website yet, and when she does I’ll include a link to her site.

Pelvic radiation therapy always involves the intestines and bladder receiving radiation. Because of this, there is often abdominal cramping and diaharrha. The more you can protect the small intestine the better. If you are able to hold a full bladder of urine, it is a good idea to drink as much water as possible 1/2 hour before your schedule treatment. This will help to move the small intestine up and out of the pelvis. Because the vaginal area is being radiated, intense dryness and narrowing can occur and some doctors recommend vinegar and water douches as well as vaginal lubricanants such as wheat germ oil. (see blog on how to open vagina after treatment) Read the rest of this entry

After the shock wore off (from that announcement, “You have an aggressive form of cancer.”), I decided to take all the information on health and healing that I knew about and put it to use.

I really wanted to use natural cures for cancer initially and did a lot of research to find out what worked for other people. In the end, it was the talk with the oncologist and inward direction that convinced to to take the traditional path. I’m still incorporating natural methods to help ease the discomfort of the side effects and will happily share them with you. Read the rest of this entry

It came as quite a surprise to find out that what I thought was probably just a hemmorhoid turned out to be an aggressive anal cancer. Shocked is more like it. I eat a healthy diet, exercise, don’t smoke, drink, or do anything that I thought would contribute to developing cancer. Sounds familiar, right?

My sister called me one day and told me she just had a colonoscopy and had 3 polyps removed. Her advice was for me to go and have one done. I rolled my eyes and said sure . . . not having insurance kept me from following through. Not even a week later I decided it would be a good idea to go to my doctor and let her know that I was noticing some blood in my stools lately. I didn’t have any other symptoms, so wasn’t real worried. She found a “mass” upon rectal examination and scheduled me for a colonoscopy the following Monday. Read the rest of this entry

When I created this site last November it was for the purpose of  journaling about my online business. I’m still learning and want to share that information with you, but my life has changed a bit since November of 2009.

I received the diagnosis of an aggressive form of cancer called cloacogenic carcinoma (the same cancer Farrah Fawcett suffered from).  As you can imagine it’s quite a shock to get that kind of news. I wasn’t having any pain, but did notice some blood in my stool. I scheduled an appointment with my doctor and after a colonoscopy and PET scan, found out that it is aggressive, but has not metastasized. That’s the good news. Read the rest of this entry