Good Day!

We went to the cancer center this morning for my blood work and visit with the oncologist. Both went well. Despite having a cold and still being on Flagyl for the C Diff, everything else is perfect. My blood work is all normal, so I will be having Taxol tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. That will be number 7!! It's really finally coming to an end in just a few more weeks.

I asked the doctor how many times I could keep going on Flagyl for the C Diff. She sort of shrugged and basically indicated that I could do it indefinitely. She also said that if it persisted and I was still here with her, she would refer me to an infectious disease doctor to keep working on it. In addition, she hinted that being on the chemotherapy could be prolonging it. This gave me some hope that if I can't beat it entirely before the chemo ends, then surely I can when it's over.

She sent me out with another undated prescription for the Flagyl since this current course of treatment will end on Friday. She also said that when I come back for my final visit with her, she will write me an undated prescription for a three-week supply of Flagyl (usually it is a 2 week supply) so that I can take that much onto the cruise ship with me in February, just in case! I think that's a great idea. A better idea would be that it's gone by February 14, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

I also asked her about taking Florastor, as I have been reluctant to add an over-the-counter drug without her permission. Shockingly, she had never heard of it. She had a good suggestion, though. She said print out some information on it from the web and bring it in tomorrow to show the inhouse pharmacists who prepare the chemo drugs. She thought that they should be able to do a little research and tell me if it's safe to take or not. Later today Mark will be printing out this information.

So all in all, this was a good doctor's visit. I am very happy that I had no real side effects from the Taxol last time, other than staying up all night after I get it and a bright red face from the Decadron glow that lasted about 48 hours. If that's all that happens this time, I can handle that!!

Today is also weigh-in day. I said last week that I had hit a new high of 240. Ha! That's nothing! I have shattered that record by a whopping four more pounds. So the new high today is 244. YIKES!! This is SO BAD!

I actually woke up this morning with a new resolve to try to put the brakes on things. There's only so much I can do as long as I want to keep eating all these pre- and pro-biotic foods, but there is definitely a few things I can do. One is to write it down again. Last week when I played Mah Jongg, Arlene gave me a Mickey Mouse pen set and notebook. I took it and I said, "I know exactly what I'm going to do with this." That's all I said, but I started doing it today: writing everything down that I eat. I have had 300 calories for breakfast: 1 pack of instant oatmeal (140), 1 Activia lite yogurt (80), 2 Morningstar sausage links (80). For lunch I have had 705 calories. That's too much, but dinner should be low. I had a Hungry Girl barbequed chicken wrap leftover from dinner last night (250), 1/2 cup of sauerkraut (50 NASTY calories!), 2 slices of sourdough bread with 2 T of Smart Balance lite margarine (300), and 1 cup of blueberries (85). The sauerkraut, sourdough bread, and blueberries are all from the list of foods good for helping to clear up C Diff.

Tonight's dinner is salad (about 120 since I put parmesan cheese on it) and a TV dinner (220 in a Lean Cuisine). This is about the lowest calorie dinner I ever eat, 340. So if I keep snacking to a minimum, today's calories should stay well under 2000. Considering I have been eating between three and four thousand, this is a huge improvement. Now if I could only get a little exercise in the day, but it's so cold outside!

Tomorrow they will give me lunch at the chemo center. Lunch always consists of a sandwich, soup, bag of chips, and 2 cookies. They also bring all the drinks and snacks you want. I have been overindulging and taking real Coke and a few packs of snack crackers or Oreos while I'm there. I am resolved to have only decaf coffee or tea without anything in it and NO snacks. I'm really not worried about the lunch itself. I figure it's good for me! Dinner will be salad and the low-calorie, low-carb, low-fat spaghetti that Mark makes every Wednesday. That whole dinner is under 500 calories. As long as I eat the same breakfast as this morning and limit snacking, that should be another good day.

The other thing I can start doing is hide the scale. There's never a reason to hop on and off every single day. I was better when I only got on the scale Tuesday mornings. I'm going to ask Mark to hide it again like he used to do for me before we moved. I can also start drinking more water. I've been drinking only one bottle of water and that during the night. During the day, once tap water didn't taste good, I have been drinking more juices and other things with calories. Right now I have some diet soda without caffeine that I can have, but in general I need to keep myself full with liquids or vegetables. I know how to do these things; I have just not been doing them. It's hard! Anyway, I'm going to try, and I'll let you know how it goes.