This past month I have been learning great compassion for menopausal women; I am having hot flashes and they are INTENSE! I wake up multiple times in the night burning and feverish, drenched in sweat, and throw off the covers, only to find myself freezing cold. Sigh. It is a bit wearisome, not to mention embarrassing when I'm in a meeting and I suddenly turn red and start to perspire! This last week it was Rosa Montgomery's Bible study, and the fiftyish-plus aged women just laughed and said, "Oh, honey, we've all been through that!" It was kind of cute, actually.
My nurse tells me that this is just a result of the chemo; I'm in a menopausal state because the R-CHOP drugs can shut down your ovaries. Thankfully, this will probably be temporary.
I'm meeting with my naturopath next week and will see what she prescribes. I have read that hot flashes can actually deplete your body of nutrients, so I'm looking into nutrient replacement as well as options like phytoestrogens and Chinese herbs.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Common Prayers
COMPLINE
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, Lord Christ;
Give rest to the weary;
Bless the dying;
Soothe the suffering;
Pity the afflicted;
Shield the joyous;
And all for your love's sake. Amen.
O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live:
Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep.
Grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other's toil;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, page 134
Prayers for Use by a Sick Person
In the morning
This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, O Lord, for whatever it may be.
If I am to stand, help me to stand bravely.
If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly.
If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently.
If I am to do nothing, help me to do it gallantly.
Make these words more than words, and give me the spirit of Jesus. Amen.
For Sleep
O heavenly Father, you give your children sleep for the refreshing of soul and body;
Grant me this gift, I pray; keep me in that perfect peace which you have promised to those whose minds are fixed on you;
And give me such a sense of your presence, that in the hours of silence I may enjoy the blessed assurance of your love;
Through Jesus Christ our savior, Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, page 461
For the Sanctification of Illness
Sanctify, O Lord, the sickness of your servant, that the sense of his weakness may add strength to his faith and seriousness to his repentance;
And grant that he may live with you in everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, page 460
Ministration to the Sick: A Collect for Doctors and Nurses
Sanctify, O Lord, those whom you have called to the study and practice of the arts of healing, and to the prevention of disease and pain.
Strengthen them by your life-giving spirit, that by their ministries the health of the community may be promoted and your creation glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, 460
A COLLECT FOR THE AGED
Look with mercy, O God our Father, on all whose increasing years bring them weakness, distress, or isolation.
Provide for them homes of dignity and peace; give them understanding helpers, and the willingness to accept help;
And, as their strength diminishes, increase their faith and their assurance of your love.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 830
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, Lord Christ;
Give rest to the weary;
Bless the dying;
Soothe the suffering;
Pity the afflicted;
Shield the joyous;
And all for your love's sake. Amen.
O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live:
Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep.
Grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other's toil;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, page 134
Prayers for Use by a Sick Person
In the morning
This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, O Lord, for whatever it may be.
If I am to stand, help me to stand bravely.
If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly.
If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently.
If I am to do nothing, help me to do it gallantly.
Make these words more than words, and give me the spirit of Jesus. Amen.
For Sleep
O heavenly Father, you give your children sleep for the refreshing of soul and body;
Grant me this gift, I pray; keep me in that perfect peace which you have promised to those whose minds are fixed on you;
And give me such a sense of your presence, that in the hours of silence I may enjoy the blessed assurance of your love;
Through Jesus Christ our savior, Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, page 461
For the Sanctification of Illness
Sanctify, O Lord, the sickness of your servant, that the sense of his weakness may add strength to his faith and seriousness to his repentance;
And grant that he may live with you in everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, page 460
Ministration to the Sick: A Collect for Doctors and Nurses
Sanctify, O Lord, those whom you have called to the study and practice of the arts of healing, and to the prevention of disease and pain.
Strengthen them by your life-giving spirit, that by their ministries the health of the community may be promoted and your creation glorified; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, 460
A COLLECT FOR THE AGED
Look with mercy, O God our Father, on all whose increasing years bring them weakness, distress, or isolation.
Provide for them homes of dignity and peace; give them understanding helpers, and the willingness to accept help;
And, as their strength diminishes, increase their faith and their assurance of your love.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 830
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Port-o-caths
Notes on port-o-caths:
When I was first diagnosed, a technician warned me that chemotherapy will actually eat away your main arm veins if administered through the arms. The veins will re-grow, but only as a network of thin, "spider" veins. The alternative offered by my oncologist was to have a port surgically implanted into my chest. The port consists of a round metal box (about the size of a small spool of thread) with a special rubber seal on the top, connected to some plastic piping that is threaded up under the skin and hooked into the jugular vein in the neck, just above the heart. This way, the chemo needle is inserted through the skin on my chest, through the rubber seal, and the drugs flow into the bloodstream and drop directly into my heart.
The last time I went in for chemo, there was a tiny blood clot clogging the port so the nurse couldn't get a blood return. They had me do "port calisthenics", hopping up and down and waving my arms over my head, but to no avail. Finally they injected a blood thinning drug to dissolve the clot, and after 45min. the port was open again, so they were able to proceed with chemo. Because some of the drugs are vesicants, which cause terrible tissue damage if they escape the veins and touch any other body tissue, nurses normally won't administer chemo unless they are absolutely sure they are in the vein. (A blood return is the best way to be sure.)
Does port access hurt? Yes, but not too much. They usually use a small shot of lidocaine, which stings, to numb the area before pushing in the larger chemo needle. You can ask for Emblen cream, which will numb the area so that you don't even have to endure the first injection. I recommend the no pain approach, since there are so many other things that hurt in the cancer treatment process that are unavoidable.
After chemo is completed, the port can normally be surgically removed. The surgeries are considered minor and take only an hour or so, and I was able to return home the same day.
When I was first diagnosed, a technician warned me that chemotherapy will actually eat away your main arm veins if administered through the arms. The veins will re-grow, but only as a network of thin, "spider" veins. The alternative offered by my oncologist was to have a port surgically implanted into my chest. The port consists of a round metal box (about the size of a small spool of thread) with a special rubber seal on the top, connected to some plastic piping that is threaded up under the skin and hooked into the jugular vein in the neck, just above the heart. This way, the chemo needle is inserted through the skin on my chest, through the rubber seal, and the drugs flow into the bloodstream and drop directly into my heart.
The last time I went in for chemo, there was a tiny blood clot clogging the port so the nurse couldn't get a blood return. They had me do "port calisthenics", hopping up and down and waving my arms over my head, but to no avail. Finally they injected a blood thinning drug to dissolve the clot, and after 45min. the port was open again, so they were able to proceed with chemo. Because some of the drugs are vesicants, which cause terrible tissue damage if they escape the veins and touch any other body tissue, nurses normally won't administer chemo unless they are absolutely sure they are in the vein. (A blood return is the best way to be sure.)
Does port access hurt? Yes, but not too much. They usually use a small shot of lidocaine, which stings, to numb the area before pushing in the larger chemo needle. You can ask for Emblen cream, which will numb the area so that you don't even have to endure the first injection. I recommend the no pain approach, since there are so many other things that hurt in the cancer treatment process that are unavoidable.
After chemo is completed, the port can normally be surgically removed. The surgeries are considered minor and take only an hour or so, and I was able to return home the same day.
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