Busy weekend

We were busy this weekend - lots of friends visited us this weekend. I really enjoyed seeing everyone! Kai spent Sunday at our friends house again. This time, he didn't cry - great! He had a great time at their house - came home really happy and smiling. But he was so full of energy - he finally just went to bed (10pm!). It is hard to believe he will be one this week. But we decided to celebrate his birthday after I finish my treatment. We won't tell him and he won't even notice it!

Where did the cold come from??

Kai's cold was pretty bad yesterday (he puked on Jim) so Jim took Kai to a doctor this morning. As the doctor recommended we gave him decongestant - I hope it works. It turns out like 6 other babies at the day care have the same thing - so Kai got it there first, then passed it to Jim (he's ok now). I also got a mild bronchitis, which is a side effect from radiation treatment. I just have a mild fever and cough and it is not too bad. I started taking cough syrup - hope it works. By the way I finally got ok to return to work (this is a long story so will not talk about that now) and went in to see my boss today. I had't talked much about work here so far but they have been so supportive and allowed me to work on a little project from home for the last two weeks. Now that I am well and can return to work, I was actually offered a new position with a little more responsibilities but with more flexibility and less time pressure. So I accepted this new position! I'm really happy about it. I also saw a HR person who has been so helpful. I learned that his mother was also recently diagnosed with breast cancer and he understands what I have been going through. I'm so grateful and feel so lucky I have the support from my work - especially since I've only worked there for a month and a half!

Eastern Doctor 3

I went to see Dr. M again yesterday. Actually I bought some supplements from him yesterday - Jim says I should not take them but I'm going to take them and yes, I will bring them to my oncologist to make sure they are not counter effective or anything. Dr. M taught me a breathing exercise which will help with my lungs. He took my health history (in very detail) and next time he will do some acupressure massage. Because Dr. M already made such a difference on my condition I have a faith in him. I actually slept until 6am this morning, which is a record since my treatment started.
I also read this Japanese cancer survivor book last night. It is about 12 people who the oncologists said they can not do anything, but they cured cancer by themselves. The lesson I learned from this book is that if you believe you can beat cancer, you will beat it. So I totally believe I can beat cancer with the treatment I'm going through now as well as help from Dr. M and the miracle drink!

Eastern Doctor 2

I just came back from my radiation treatment. I was so happy I slept well last night using the pressure point technique I learned from Dr. M, I was telling the radiation therapist about it. She then told me that my radiation doctor (Dr. J) does acupuncture to some of his patients to help with nausea. So I ended up talking to Dr. J and he is going to give me an acupuncture a day after my next chemo. He is a regular American doctor so I had no idea he could do this. He said he is too busy that he doesn't offer this service to many people. I feel so lucky!! By the way Jim's fever is down (37.3C) this morning and he's doing just fine. Thank God! But now Kai has a runny nose - hope it doesn't develop into a full blown flu.

Life is tough

Ok - so now that I'm feeling better, Jim is sick. He has a high fever (38.5C - I don't know what is in F?). He just did too much over the last two weeks. So I had to take Kai to daycare, go grocery shopping and do dishes today. Life is tough, isn't it?? I don't know if you guys know about Mr. Zomahoun (he is from Benin, Africa and is like a celebrity in Japan) - he always says Life is tough. He went to a university in China, then came to Japan to earn a PhD. He later started a school in Benin. I have his book in Japanese (Zomahoun no Hon) if anybody wants to borrow it - it's really good.
By the way if anybody knows of a good helper - who can go shopping, clean, do dishes, laundry, and cook Japanese food, please let us know. We'll need help when the next round of chemo comes around. Jim is asleep now - hope he feels better after a good sleep.
Now, more about Dr. M. He gave me tips on coping with nausea (pressure points and food). He also recommended food that would help my lungs: bamboo shoots, Japanese Daikon Radish, Lotus Seeds and Water Chestnuts, Lilies (root). Chriseda and Kim - if you are going to cook for me again could you try using some of these ingredients? I hope you can find these ingredients from farmer's market - but please avoid buying product of China. After hearing recent news about dangerous Chinese food product I'm trying to avoid Chinese produce for now. I bought some water chestnuts yesterday but I have no idea to cook it. I would have to experiment. I'm going to see Dr. M again tomorrow afternoon. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Eastern Doctor

Ok - I went to see this Eastern doctor recommended by a friend - let's call him Dr. M. I don't know how to explain it but I'm feeling 100% better. First of all, I hadn't slept well for days. I can only sleep like 3 hrs at a time and usually wake up 2-3am and could not fall back to sleep until 6am or so. But Dr. M showed some pressure points which help the liver function. The reason I wasn't sleeping well was because my liver is not doing well. So after I massaged my pressure points last night, I slept well for 4 and half hrs straight. It is a record. I woke up feeling so well and hungry! I had rice and miso soup for breakfast. I haven't felt this well since the treatment started. I even drove myself to the hospital this morning. Ok I have to go now but I'll write more about this doctor later today. Thanks!!

Doctor

I went for a radiation this morning and also met with my radiation doctor. He just wanted to make sure I'm not suffering from any side effects from radiation. Luckily I have no side effects from radiation so far. I'm grateful. By the way I'm going to see the Eastern doctor this afternoon - I'm hoping to learn how to meditate, etc. from this doctor so it will help me mentally. I'm feeling better than yesterday also. I hope I can just stop the dry heaves -then I'm golden. By the way I found one more thing I like to eat - Asian pears. Even when I am a little sick I can eat them. I ate two of them yesterday - they are juicy and sweet and I love them.

Weekend

I didn't even touch a computer this weekend. I just wanted to rest. I'm glad the weekend is over - I was really sick from nausea and acid stomach. I'm finally feeling better today. Our friends babysat Kai Sunday and it really helped. Jim was able to clean up and do a lots of chores. Thank you V&R!
I figured out I'm allergic to one of the anti-nausea medicine. My rashes had gone really bad after I took this drug. Hopefully the next medicine they are going to give me won't be too bad. My friend suggested an eastern doctor who can help with nausea from chemo. I've asked Jim to make an appointment for me - I really hope this doctor can help - the drugs are not working 100% and I need to recover quickly before the next rounds of chemo.

Coudn't sleep

I couldn't sleep at all last night after my 3 hour evening nap! I was fighting nausea half the night - eating crackers and Papaya. I feel a little better this morning but can not eat meals anymore. I'm on Papaya diet again - thank God Papaya is in season. I hope everyone have a nice weekend - I should be better after the weekend!

Day 8

I had my second dose of cisplatin today - finished around 3:30pm. I'm ok but just exhausted. I can not drive myself anymore so Jim has to drive me around. I'm taking very strong anti-nausea drugs which make me really drowsy. By the way Jim just had my car detailed so it is sparkling clean! I haven't seen my car so clean in years. I'm going to rest now - hope you are all doing well!

Allergy

I'm doing ok - went for my morning appointment with the doctor. They think my rashes are allergic reaction to anti-nausea medicine. So we are going to try new medicine tomorrow. Hope it works - my rashes are now spread everywhere, but I can deal with it.
Thank you very much for Kim and Les to bring us home-cooked food last night. CH - thank you so much for cooking my favorite dish! Kim - Jim will likely finish the banana bread by himself - he just can not stop himself.

Day 6 - Oprah

I just did radiation today - no chemo. I feel much better than yesterday - I was actually able to eat lunch today. I felt better so I went to get a very short haircut. I was told that my chemo drug causes hair loss and usually starts in week 2. So I went ahead and got it cut short. By the way I was watching Oprah about autism. It is very scary to think if your child is diagnosed with autism. But according to this show, there is a hope for recovery. Really great news. The guest was Jenny McCarthy, whose son has autism and in recovery. I hope Kai never gets autism but if it happens, there's hope for recovery. It is a great story.

Day 5

Finally I finished the first round of Etoposide. Now I'll have two days free from Chemo - yeah! I'm still coping with nausea but I feel better than yesterday. I hope I can eat more during these two days to take the next Cisplatin on Thursday. I have another mild side effect of rashes now. The nurse said try the ointment and the benadryl. She said it is because my immune system is weakened this happened. I better start getting my immune system back on!
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and offers - I really appreciate it so much!

Day 3 & Day 4

Just came back from Day 4 of Chemo. One more day and I have 2 days off without Chemo!Yesterday, we went to a friend's house to celebrate her son's birthday. I had a really good time visiting them.
Sorry I'm not feeling too good because of nausea now. Just like I'm having a morning sickness. Jim cooked salmon last night but the smell made me too sick to eat. But I could eat a lot of Papaya - I don't know why but it doesn't make me sick.
Thank you all for thinking about me and praying for me to stay strong through the treatment.

Day 2

I had radiation and short chemo this morning - only took about 3 hrs or so. But I couldn't sleep much last night - according to the nurse it is common because of the medicine. I had my first nausea symptom this morning but I took the pill and it went away. I noticed certain smell makes me very nauseous - I have to watch out for those food smells. I am doing OK overall but don't have appetite anymore. As you all know I'm usually always hungry but now I try to eat as much as I can but my usually great appetite is missing, very strange!

First Day of Treatment

I finished my first day of treatment. Piece of cake! But I was at the hospital at 8am and finally finished everything after 4pm. I had radiation and took both of the chemo drugs, as well as anti-nausea medicine and lots of saline. One of the chemo drug, called Cisplatin, is Platinum based (yes, Platinum, so it should be very expensive drug) and I hear it works very aggressively. Although I was scared of these drugs, I was happy that my treatment finally started and I don't have to worry about my cancer spreading somewhere. Anyway, I am feeling fine, just a little tired from being at the hospital all day and I'm super hungry! I cooked miso soup tonight so will enjoy my dinner now. Thank you all for thinking about me and praying for me today. Thanks to you, I have a really good feeling the treatment will work out. Good night!

Chemo

I just came back from the doctor and they explained how the chemo works. I had thought it would be much easier but it is a complicated procedure. I am on two kinds of drugs (Cisplatin and Etoposide) and I have to do Cisplatin weekly and Etoposide 5 days in a row, rest for 3 weeks, then 5 more days to finish. So the total schedule takes 36 days. I have to take both drugs tomorrow (start at 8am), and it would take 5-6 hours total! Well, I will have lot of time for reading or watching TV now. They also have a snack cart which makes rounds and you can get free snacks!! The pharmacist went over all the side effects - the doctors already prescribed 3 kinds of anti-nausea medicine. The good news is, this is very short schedule (she said some people have like 90 day - 6 months treatment). I'm so looking forward to this treatment to be over - even before it starts! But most importantly, I hope these drugs work and kill my cancer!! Please keep your fingers crossed. Thank you and good night!

TV shows

I was going to write mostly about my cancer treatment on the blog but I decided to talk about other things - it is boring if it is just about cancer, isn't it?
Anyway, I hear laughter has a positive effect on your health. And I love to laugh. Our son makes me laugh every day - he is so funny! But here are some of the TV shows I love to watch - they are very entertaining and guaranteed to make you laugh:

Flipping Out (Bravo) - unfortunately they just finished the season. But if you haven't seen it catch the reruns! It is a reality TV show about a flipper in CA.
Monk (USA) - Monk is a brilliant detective who also has OCD. I love this show on Friday night.
Rescue Me (FX) - this is a crazy show about fire fighters in NY. Sometimes I can not believe what goes on the show - but it is highly entertaining.

Lung cancer info

I'm going to list some of the books we read about cancer and found helpful:
"The Best News About Radiation Therapy" by Carol L. Kornmehl
"Lung Cancer: Myth, Facts, Choices - and Hope" by Claudia I. Henschke, Peggy McCarthy with Sarah Wernick
"After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger" by Julie K. Silver
"It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life" by Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong's book was very inspirational. I also read an on-line book written by Richard Bloch (he is the "R" in H&R Block) who survived lung cancer and lived 25 years after he was told he had 3 months to live by a doctor : http://www.blochcancer.org/hope/hope1.htm
By the way - we did exchange cards yesterday for our anniversary. My husband also had a surprise for me which I may share with you later.

Miracle drink?

I'm doing good this morning - already went for a walk!
After I told my parents about my cancer, they searched for cancer cure in Japan. They found about this drink which they heard cures cancer. My mother's friend's son was able to cure his lymphoma because of this drink (that's what they told me-). So they recently sent me a box full of it. The main ingredients are- 5 different kinds of vinegar and fruit juice, etc. I don't know if it really works but I am drinking it. I noticed that when I do a search about lung cancer, I don't find many good stories in English. But when in Japanese I seem to find better stories (long term lung cancer survival stories). I don't know if it is because Japanese people with lung cancer like to talk about their stories on the web more or they actually live longer. In any case these stories encourage me a lot.

Good weekend - 2

Sorry - I had thought today was our anniversary but actually it is tomorrow. I didn't realize it until I made the last posting and the date showed Sept 9. Anyway I guess now my husband has time to pick up a card.

Good weekend

Today was our 12th anniversary but we were too busy to do anything special this weekend. My husband didn't even remember it until I mentioned it! But we went to friends' house for dinner on Saturday. Had a great time! Today I went out for a lunch with friends. I really had fun this weekend - this was the last weekend before the treatment and I think I totally enjoyed it. Good night!

Correction!

Sorry - I said the radiation treatment is done 5 times a day but I meant 5 times a week! Thanks for pointing it out to me, CH!

Happy Friday

I just want to say thank you very much to everyone who is thinking about me and praying for me. I feel so blessed to have lots of friends and family who care about me.
Oh, per Y-san's request I put a picture on this site. Do you like it??
For Japanese people, I want to introduce this website http://www.yururi.net/
It is made by Japanese people with lung cancer and I recently joined their group. You can find my posting by my pink heart icon. By the way I was asked by some of you about my prognosis. Statistically it is not very good at this stage. But the typical patients with lung cancer are much older. I'm one of the youngest patients with this disease and I believe my generally good health will help me pull through!
Have a nice weekend everyone. I hope it won't be too hot.

More on Treatment - side effects

I am reading about side effects from chemo and radiation. Most people experience fatigue and hair loss. Other side effects include: sore throat, nausea/vomiting, pain, anemia, rash/painful skin, constipation/diarrhea. Few lucky people do not experience side effects at all or very little. I hope I'm going to be one of the lucky ones. But I think I'll probably experience hair loss - when I went back to work after maternity leave this year, I lost lots of hair. I thought I was going bald. It only stopped after the busy season was over. So it will probably happen again. I don't know if I'll get a wig - maybe I can wear a hat or scarf instead. I don't really mind the hair loss because the hair grows back after the treatment is over. I hope my nausea won't be too bad - I was able to survive the morning sickness last year which also lasted about 6 weeks. They say exercises helps to reduce your side effects, so I've been exercising regularly again and I feel very good.

Treatment - radiation

Ok - so about the treatment. After seeing many different doctors, I decided to be treated by doctors at E hospital. They have a cancer institute in a new building, and I really like the nice library they have where you can borrow books from. Anyway, the current plan is to start radiation and chemo on Sept 13, for 6-7 weeks. Radiation will be done 5 times a day. I just went to get "simulation" done for radiation - they marked my body with blue sharpie and I have to keep these marks until the treatment is over. I have not met with an oncologist about the chemo yet but according to the radiologist, chemotherapy doesn't need any preparation while radiation needs a few days of preparation, so it is better to schedule radiation ahead of time. Radiation would only take like 15 min. - so it will not be too bad. I was excited to learn that they validate valet parking when you are going through radiation treatment!

Intro

Hello - this is my first posting! I'm going to write as often as I can about my cancer treatment on this blog. I was diagnosed with lung cancer on Aug 14, 2007. It is non-small cell cancer, and my stage was recently confirmed as IIIb (it goes from I to IV). It started with a symptom of hoarseness in the end of July. I didn't have any other symptoms such as persistent cough or spitting blood. So when I found out, I was in shock - I have never dreamed of having a lung cancer. I just had a cyst removed from my left breast in July - which turned out to be benign. So I thought I was in good health. After the diagnosis, I had MRI, PET scan, and mediastinoscopy which confirmed my stage as IIIb. My husband and I read a lot about lung cancer in the last few weeks. I'm in a good place now that I know more about this disease and am ready to fight. My treatment will be starting next week, hopefully. Unfortunately it is inoperable at this stage, so my treatment will be chemotherapy and radiation. That's it for now - more to come.