Due to the Covid-19 virus, I had a phone consultation today with Dr. Chasse Bailey-Dorton. She is a 17 year Breast Cancer survivor herself and she got diagnosed when she was 37, as well. Her job is to help make a plan for chemo, a plan for surgery, and then a plan to reduce reoccurrence. I will continue to see her every few weeks or as needed. She explained that her goal is to make me stronger at the end of all of this treatment. You see, breast cancer is a little different than other kinds, because we don’t feel sick and actually the medication to heal the cancer makes us feel terrible. It’s all very hard to swallow.
Typically, Dr. Bailey-Dorton would prescribe acupuncture, healing touch, and massage therapy, but again due to the Covid-19 virus, all of those are considered non-essential. She prescribed probiotics to help with the GI issues that come with chemo and it boosts the immune system. She also ordered bloodwork to see if my vitamins/minerals levels are adequate. She gave specific direction to stop all supplements and essential oils.
Next, we talked about diet and exercise. I explained how I was gluten free vegan and she suggested I attend some free online nutrition classes provided by Levine’s to hear about the benefits of adding fish into my diet. I’m not a huge seafood fan and can’t actually stand the smell, but I’m not opposed to trying anything that is proven to help me survive and thrive through this quest. I’ll fill you in more on my research into this new diet after I take the class in a couple of weeks. She also recommended I read the book called The Cancer Fighting Kitchen. I already ordered it and will be reading that next week! As far as exercise, she said yoga and walking would be good to do through Chemo. Jan, AJ’s mom, sent me some great resources on Qigong and Tai Chi. These are seated exercises and available on YouTub. They there 9 minute videos and should be really good for those down days. It’s important to keep moving!
Finally, Dr. Bailey-Dorton gave me some website resources to find very valuable information on how to avoid reoccurrence. Www.EWG.Com has information about how to reduce the chemicals in your environment and www.healthyjourneys.org is a great place to learn how to utilize the mind and body connection for healing the body and dealing with the treatment side effects.
Phone consultations are not ideal for medical appointments. It is hard to grasp all the information and ask all the questions, but we have to just embrace the weird times we are in.
I am still pretty sore from the port placement yesterday. My neck is stiff and wounds are stinging, but Kaiah took good care of me today. She helped get me Tylenol and Benedrly in the middle of night even. She cooked me breakfast and kept me company. Also, there were presents when I woke up this morning! Kaiah and my mama collaborated and got me all kinds of fun stuff for chemo. It was such a great surprise, especially since I wasn’t feeling my best. The card make me cry. It was so sweet! Cupcake must know I am sick. She hasn’t left my side all day. She curled up with me yesterday and has been glued to me since. I mustarded up enough energy to sit at the table with Kirklyn and put a puzzle together. Jack has been keeping us all fed. He is having to take on a lot of what I usually do and it’s hard for me to just sit idle. I like to go go go! But, here we are learning to be still and take it slow.
Lots of friends have been checking in and seeing how I’m doing. It is so nice to feel loved. It’s the little texts and Facebook messages that really keep me going. Thank you friends, I couldn’t do this without you all!