Hi…diagnosed 3 days ago. Terrified of chemo.

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Hello, I’ll keep this brief. I know we could all write a novel regarding our own story! 55 year old female from Nebraska. Stage 1. No treatment for the last 3 years because there were no secondary problems. I now have a severe secondary problem which is lesions on my pelvis and femur. My femur fractured on Dec 13 (lesser trochanter fracture). Chemo is recommended and I am terrified and nauseated at the mere thought of it. I always vowed I would NEVER do it…but…I am housebound because of this secondary problem so I need to do something extreme :(  The chemo/immuno therapy drugs recommended are bendamustine/rituximab. I live clean, eat clean, and am extremely holistic. But I never used to drink water. Increasing water intake in the last 8 months has been great, but, it happened too late to mitigate the years of not hydrating properly. Our lymph systems need water to function properly.

I am on no prescription meds (well, except for some pain killers right now for the fracture. It’s excruciating) and I take many supplements. That could be another novel I could write LOL
I love dogs, gardening, photography, and photo editing. I also love motorcycles, jet skiing, and atv’s. But, sadly, I think I’m going to have to sell those toys due to my fracture and potential for future fractures. 
Looking forward to meeting others who are going through and overcoming this challenge!
  • Hi again ...... as to your question about paragraph breaks.

    I just copied some information from an email I had sent at the weekend and pasted this information directly into a thread here on the community........ all the paragraph breaks disappeared.

    So I lifted the information directly from the email again but put it into the 'Notes' tool on my Mac....... then lifted it from the 'Notes' tool into the same thread and the spacings were fine.

    I use the 'Notes' tool all the time if I want to pre-write some text, add links etc then lift it and paste it into the community. It's also helpful for me as I often put up the same information to new members.

    See if it works for you.

    Mike (Thehighlander)

    It always seems impossible until its done - Nelson Mandela

    Community Champion Badge

  • Good NESS! You certainly go over and above! I did some test text (on my profile) and tried pasting from my email, Notes, and MS Word. Email was problematic. MS Word worked, but left huge spaces. Notes was perfect. THANK YOU!!! Pray Blush I did hear back from tech support and they loved that I had a workaround, but they are ‘looking into the problem’. I guess I better let them know that the Mac mail editor is the true culprit.

    The reason I always defer to my email platform is that my Draft folder is a strange repository for random thoughts and bits of information for my life. I probably have 30,000 saved drafts and it goes back 20 years! My daily health log. And simple things like recipes. And everything in between. All I have to do is search a word and my ‘draft' pops up.

  • Well done getting this sorted but 30,000 emails in your draft file Flushed

    Mike (Thehighlander)

    It always seems impossible until its done - Nelson Mandela

    Community Champion Badge

  • Wow! The colors are amazing! And how wondrous to be ten minutes from Loch Ness! Everything there seems to carry an air of mystique. I’d be there every day enjoying the beauty and listening to the water. I’m sure you could do without all the looky-lou tourists hoping to see Nessie crest the surface LOL

  • looky-lou tourists

    Lol

    Mike (Thehighlander)

    It always seems impossible until its done - Nelson Mandela

    Community Champion Badge

  • Hi SeVen.  I think everyone is scared or even terrified of the ordeal ahead of them.  The Word Cancer is bad enough, and then the chemo and effects is enough to say. No way! I am too scared! I was sShamrock so scared.  I was told what sort of cancer I had one day, and the next morning started chemo.  I was told the Lymphoma was out of control so they needed to get on it ASAP.  It was about 3/4 weeks bShamrockfore I realised all this was me! I was in shock until then! But my survivor spirit kicked in! I wasn’t going to fall at the hurdle. Saw lots of patients younger than me.  I had grown up children andShamrockgrandchildren. My advice is to be brave, listen to everything you are told and advised to do.  Try things and see.  I couldn’t eat much but gradually found little things I could eat. Laugh with the Shamrockurses; say silly things; give yourself little treats. Don’t be too hard on yourself!  My saving grace has been Oranges, pineapple, and cheese. Also loads of herbal teas, ordinary teas and lots of waShamrocker.  These items  has kept my bloods reasonable, strength up. I have a long long battle ahead but it’s better than not being here. Good luck ShamrockShamrockShamrock

  • Hi Lindyloo82! Thank you for reaching out with words of encouragement! I took the leap today and scheduled my first chemo treatment. So many emotions, but I’m staying positive. I like your plan of finding little treats. With the pain I’ve had since the fracture, I’ve lost almost 30lbs in the last six weeks. Being in pain is a lot of work! Thankfully, I had 30lbs to lose. But I’m getting to the point that I dont have much reserve left. Maybe it’s time to indulge in one of my favorite foods…donuts! Though, I know it’s time to start eating healthier and drinking copious amounts of water. Oranges, pineapples, and cheese… love them all. Thanks for the suggestion! Does pineapple pizza count? LOL

    Love all your shamrocks! Are you Irish?