One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Greetings!! I am compelled to tell you, I'm back in the hospital. There seems to be a tumor, on my L-1 vertebrae, that insists on causing trouble for me. My Surgeon tells me I'm going to lose that vertebrae, as well. Looks like I'll have a matching set of cages, now! LOL!

All joking aside, back in March, I wrote a Blog about my addiction to processed and convenience foods; in the last five months, my condition went from great to "uh-oh", because I slipped back into my old eating habits. You can read that Blog, here. When I recover from this surgery, I'm going full-on health freak, and never looking back!! Orthorexia here I come! God said "this sickness will not end in death", last year. I'm holding Him to it!!

I WILL NOT LOSE MY LIFE TO THIS!!

If I'm going to live, and bring glory to God, I'm going to have to practice what I've been preaching to you. I can't be The Savvy Survivor, if I'm not outsmarting a disease intent on killing me! I've even written a few Blogs about keeping your pH balanced, and how that's been proven to stave off diseases. So, I need to get serious about this, or my Granddaughter will grow up, not knowing who I am! And, THAT is not an option!!

I apologize to all of you, as well. Being a slave to unhealthy eating habits, as I post Blogs, and messages on Facebook, about clean eating, and how to fight off cancer with this approach and that nutrient, makes me a hypocrite; and I am ashamed of myself for that. I hope you can forgive me!

I will keep you posted, as events take place. Have a blessed day!

The Pain of Waiting

Ohmygoodness!! As I'm writing this, I'm experiencing a monsterous cramp, in the back of my right hip! OWWW! This is what I've been dealing with for the last 5 weeks!

It all started during "Atlanta Weekend" (last weekend of June). I thought it was just a temporary thing, because during my flight from Akron to Knoxville (meeting up with my oldest daughter), my plane lost altitude, suddenly. I'm not kidding...we literally fell out of the sky! Scared all the passengers, and of course, I tensed up. Who wouldn't, right??

So, I hobbled through the weekend, expecting to get back to normal, once I returned home. I was wrong. The entire month of July, whatever this is that's happening, got progressively worse! And, I don't even know what caused it!!

What happens is like this...I feel tightness in my lower back, buttocks, hips, and thighs (kind of like a charlie horse) and while these muscles are tight, they spasm! Sometimes the spasms come first, but not always; and recently, my calves, and feet, have been twitchy, as well....so, it's spreading. At first, it only happened at night, then it began happening right around lunch time...now, I'm in the pain zone all day. I've even been woke up by charlie horse sensations, in the middle of the night! Not nice!!

I've asked my Surgeon to call in a prescription for Skelaxin, after clearing it with my Oncologist. My sister uses it, and she gave me one, one afternoon; it felt so good to move without being in pain!! And, my Oncologist said it wouldn't interfere with the chemo pill. But, I'm still waiting for my insurance company to approve the prescription! I've been waiting for about a week, now...I didn't have to wait THIS long for my Xeloda to be approved!!

This whatever it is has significantly limited my activities. It takes me twice as long as normal to get from the recliner to the bathroom, now; and traveling anywhere is agony!! I've even had to spend the night in the recliner (now I sleep there, every night), because laying down in my bed is impossible, without dealing with excruciating pain! And, until I can get some relief, I won't be very active...which, consequently, will make my condition worse...and/or cause more problems.

I've been trying to get in to see my Surgeon, so he can run some tests to see if we can (hopefully) discover what's gone wrong, but his schedule has been totally screwy, lately; he's had to reschedule me five times! Hopefully, I'll be able to see him, next week! It's been a year, since my surgery....I shouldn't be having this issue!!

Something is very wrong...and I hope it can be fixed!!

On a brighter note, I think I've found my "magic number" with my chemo pill, Xeloda! I can tolerate four pills a day, as long as they're spaced apart. So, I take two pills in the morning, and two in the evening; I just hope my Oncologist is ok with this! LOL! I'm feeling good, other than the muscle thing! And, I'm looking forward to him telling me, "it's gone!"

Have a great weekend, my loves! I'll keep you updated, as soon as I know anything!

God bless you! oxoxox