Friday, February 8, 2013

Last day in Mexico!!

We spoke to the doctor today and he agreed to let me go home a day early! Yippee!! I get to see my sweet boys tomorrow!!
I gave myself an injection today. I only used a 1 inch needle so the poke wasn't bad. The fluid going in hurt though. I wish I knew how the nurses do it without causing any pain. Josh will do the one in the morning so he will know how also.
I got my catheter taken out today. Yikes that thing was huge!! We took a picture of it that I will post later.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. Now the hard part of this fight against cancer starts. Implementing this at home will take some getting used to. But it's only for 2 years so it should go by quickly Lord willing.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Day17

I had every intention to post last night (well and eat and drink and move) but I had a bad reaction. I couldn't stand up, or move my head or open my eyes without feeling very sick, dizzy and nauseous . It sucked. Granted it only lasted about 2 hours but still.

We learned how to do injections today, scary stuff. I guess they put the whole 1.5 inch needle in my rear every morning. Yikes!! I'm gonna have to do it in the AM to myself. I'm a wee bit terrified.

I started crying today when they came to give me the Autologous vaccine. I'm such a weenie. In my own defense, they said the Coley's shot wouldn't hurt and this one would feel like a bee sting. Well, the Coley's shot hurt really bad and I couldn't use my arm for the rest of the day so this shot was terrifying!!! They iced my leg, they didn't for the others which furthered my hysteria, and then brought over a 1.5 inch needle and that is when I lost it. Josh talked me down and the doc gave me the shot. It was nothing. Praise Jesus! I didn't even feel the needle. The injection did feel a little bit like a bee sting but not bad since it was numbed. The doc said that the other doc must have hit a nerve with the other shot.

Josh and I took a long walk on the beach a few days ago in the morning and saw a baby sea lion!!! It was awesome! He actually looked sad though like he was lost or maybe that is just how sea lions look. I think it was a sea lion instead of a seal because he had ear flaps. We got within 50 feet of him. We also watched the pod of dolphins the day before for quite a while and saw 3 of them ride a wave together. Very cool!

2 more days till I get to see my boys!!!! yippee!!!





Monday, February 4, 2013

Day 13

Today is done and tomorrow will be better. I received the Coley's toxins around 8:45am and the injection hurt, bad. By 9am I couldn't move my arm. This made nursing Danica difficult. Praise The Lord my reaction was minimal, No doubt because of prayer. My stomach was upset, my coffee breaks were hard and I was depressed but past that I was fine. Well.., except for my arm, which still hurts.

I'm not out if the woods yet though. Because they have it to me subcutaneously it can cause a reaction up to a few days after injection. Yippee..,(sarcasm font needed).

Prayer requests;
Danica isn't sleeping and today screamed a lot. She seems well except for this.

My state of mind. One of the symptoms of this treatment is intermittent depression. This one is hitting me hard. So hard that I'm not just depressed, I'm also ANGRY. Not necessarily at anything and I'm quietly angry. It feels awful. I do not like this state. My depression/anger isn't directed toward anything in particular; sometimes the food makes it worse or the pain. Sometimes it flares at the thought that this treatment will continue for 2 years and that makes me feel angry and then hopeless. It's odd that I'm rarely angry at the cancer. It's like it's not completely real. I don't know. Somedays when I'm not having a reaction I feel fine, hopeful. This anger isn't rational and is obviously a side effect But it still stinks.

Thank you all again for your support and continued prayers.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Day 12

I am SO blessed! I was thinking today about how blessed I am.

I am blessed to have 4 wonderful and beautiful children. I am blessed to have family and friends who step in to care for them when things get rough. I am blessed to have a husband whose qualities I cannot even begin to list. I am blessed with an amazing brother who has put his life on hold to help us fight this cancer. I am blessed to have sister in laws that will put up with me for weeks at a time in foreign countries.
That's mostly what I was thinking about today as Becky left. It was hard to hold back the tears as we said goodbye. I am so thankful to her for coming to help me here in Tijana, Mexico. Her help, support, and friendship made this hard time easier. Thank you Becky, love ya!
Josh has been playing with Danica all afternoon and enjoying every minute of it. One of my dear nurses watched Danica so Josh and I could go walking on the beach together. It was very nice.
I'm having anxiety about tomorrow. In the morning I will be fasting and they will give me the Coley's toxins thru injection. This one comes with quite the reaction so I have heard. Plus reaction means its working. I do want my cancer gone but gosh I dont want to feel bad. I'm a big baby.
Praise! My tumor has been hurting. Mostly around the edges. It is angry which is just how I want it to be until it is gone.
Praise The Lord for the great things He has done!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Day 11- sorry about the text can't figure it out

I guess my blog settings have changed and I didn't see any of your comments until late last night. Thank you ALL for your continued support and prayers. The most common question people are asking me is "what is a coffee break?" Well...... Coffee breaks are actually retained coffee enemas. I do 5 a day. I was struggling with them at first but now I look forward to them. They make me feel so much better. If I have a headache or felt achy all over, I just take a coffee break and voila I feel better. I snagged this from the gerson website

The coffee enemas are a must for anyone doing the Gerson Therapy. As the juices begin rebuilding the body and encouraging toxins to be released from the cells into the bloodstream, a great deal of stress is placed upon the liver. The liver alone, especially in cancer patients, cannot deal with a sudden influx of toxins into the bloodstream. The coffee enemas increase liver filtering, greatly aiding the liver’s ability to remove serum toxins. Coffee enemas are used to increase the liver’s detoxification capacity. Certain substances in the coffee stimulate an important detoxification enzyme in the liver as well as dilate the bile ducts and increase the flow of bile. 

Keep in mind I'm not just doing the Gerson therapy, I'm actually doing the Gerson Plus therapy which builds upon the original gerson therapy. My day is full. I asked them to start it at 5am instead of the usual 7am so we can grab some time to head to the beach. They start with a B-12 and liver injection in my hip followed by my IV injection of Leatril, to weaken the malignant cells, and high dose Vitamin C to kill them. After that is done they administer Cartilage therapy through my IV, which has healing and anti-tumor effects, and then Urea, used for tumor debulking. All the IVs go through my catheter in my chest. 

Breakfast comes at 8:30am along with the first of 13 juices. Breakfast is always oatmeal, a piece of toast and fruit, fresh or stewed. Different juices then come every hour on the hour until 8pm. They have been bringing me double juices since I'm breast feeding. Its a lot of liquid.  Lunch and dinner are at 12pm and 5 pm and I am required to finish most of my meal. As they say here, my food is my medicine.

 My coffee breaks are at 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm. I can't stick to those exact times as good on the account that I nurse Danica 5 to 6 times per day, not including the nightly feedings she has restarted. With almost every juice comes supplements that I need to take.

My IVs will stop next Wednesday and I will start on two new injections that I will continue once home. Josh and I are going to have to learn how to give injections. 

Today we went for an hour long walk on the beach. Becky leaves tomorrow. There were a few people riding horses on the beach again and one of the gentlemen waved, brought his horse over and had his horse bow down. I totally missed it but Becky said it was cool. rats! 

I haven't had anymore bad reactions, praise God. Everything seems to be going smoothly, except that I am home sick something awful. Oh how I miss my boys.


 Aunt Becky playing with Danica, those two have such a great time together. I caught them doing this after one of my coffee breaks. Superman!!


Here was our nice cowboy on the beach. Really wish I could have gotten a picture of the horse bowing down, (or seen it for that matter).

Friday, February 1, 2013

Day 10

Its Friday, I've been told. All the days are running together at this point. I had the nurse start my IVs at 5 am this morning so we could make sure and make it to the beach.  Yesterday we tried to go but it was too late by the time I got unhooked from my IV meds. Today worked much better and I was done by noon. Danica is doing well as you will see from her pictures. 
The quality isn't great but she is still cute!
I plan on writing a post to walk ya'll through a normal day here but it won't be tonight. I'm super tired as Danica has decided to quit sleeping through the night. She is well though so praise the Lord for that. 
Thank you all for your support and prayers. Special thanks to those helping with my kiddos back home.