Kelly and Dr. EsparzaToday was a better chemo day for Kelly. We added a couple new tricks that seem to help her. First, we had Dr. Loudon's (one of the neurosurgeons) wife come to the clinic this morning. She practices Chinese Medicine and accupunture. She taped little seeds on Kelly's wrists and left ear on pressure points. Kelly rubs them and they helped with her nausea. Today was the first time in a long time she hasn't gotten sick while receiving her chemo treatment. She got pretty nauseous a couple times, but rubbing on the seeds really seemed to help dissipate it, especially the ones in her ear.
She was also very happy to see Dr. Esparza today. He is the doctor that wrote the letter to her in the last post.
The other thing her nurse (coincidentally named Kelli and also has a twin sister) helped her to discover was that if she flushes her port herself, she can control the speed that it goes into her port. She she is now pushing the saline and heparin through her port herself. She also pushed her anti-nausea meds through her port. (Photo below) Having this control helps her a lot. If anything goes into her port too fast, it makes her sick. She can taste the saline and heparin that flush her port. She has a whole routine to help with the tastes - scented lipgloss, tic tacs... anything that puts a good taste in her mouth.
Thanks to all of the generous donations we are receiving, we are about to raise our goal for Relay for Life again. Thanks to everyone who has contributed. The event is April 19, so for those of you that have asked, it is not too late to donate, and any amount is appreciated. Anything we can do to contribute to finding a cure for cancer is such a giving gift to all those affecting by cancer!
Relay for Life team page - http://acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude
14 comments:
I am so glad that the seeds helped you today! Yahoo!! We are still recovering from the marathon..Chloe's appointment is Monday at 9am. :) Hope to see you guys then.
Love, Karla & Family
Kelly, That seed thing is so cool!I'm glad that your chemo was better this week.
Amy
I always forget you are three hours behind - waited until AI went off and then thought you should be home earlier if things went well - was glad to read that they did! Acupuncture is neat stuff...enjoy Idol tonite Kelly!
Hugs, Pat
Kelly-
I am so happy to hear that you found something to help you with your nausea. Hope it continues to keep the nausea away.
Also your letter from Dr. Sam really is beautiful. Being sick can make people grumpy; so your strengh is very inspiring.
Keep dancing in the rain and remember...What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited ...
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot eat away at peace,
It cannot destroy confidence,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot shut out memories,
It cannot invade the soul,
it cannot reduce eternal life,
It cannot quench the spirit,
It cannot lessen the power
of the resurrection.
Praying for you still
A Stranger in IL
Dear Shining Star,
Cool stuff. Why did we wait so long to try this? If it can keep away nausea, I wonder if accupuncture/pressure can keep away other unpleasant feelings. It may come in handy next time I tell you one of my stories.
Love,
Catalina Eddy
How cool that you're getting some extra help from your doctor's wife! I hope it makes you feel better - you look adorable!
Our prayers are with you...Love, Darla and Family
Hi Kelly!
I am so glad that there is something that helps you feel a bit better and not get sick!!! I am so thrilled that you have a great group of doctors and nurses that seem to keep trying different ideas to make the process of getting your chemo treatments easier for you!! That is so awesome!! We love the photos of you!!
Boy, your temperature keeps on rising on that Relay thermometer!!! Wonderful!!
Love you,
Aunt Jenny
Dear Kelly,
How great that you've found that seed thing. Flushing the port yourself gives you a much greater degree of control, too. That's great.
By the way, my Mom keeps asking about you and praying for you. She's thrilled every time I can give her a good report. She'll be delighted when I give her this news!
Take care,
Henry
So Kelly, what do ya say... want to be a nurse when you grow up? Kasey never had a port... but if you left him alone with saline in a syringe and an IV... it would be cleard out before ya know it! I am glad that new chinese medicine trick worked for you.. Kathy.. you might have to share that idea with Katherine's mom from PBT. She is having a hard time with chemo.
Glad all is well otherwise! Gonna go check your Relay page see how fabulous your doing!!
Have a good day~
Amy... Kasey's mom
Hi Kelly!
So glad to hear about the latest treatment addition! How cool your doctors are open to other medical philosophies. And that it's helping! Yeah!! I bet it does help a lot too to control how things go in your port yourself - again what a great team you have! Of course, with you as captain it has to be great - just like Team Kelly! Even just at the dentist it has helped Jake to get to hold the spit sucker himself since he's not a big fan of going to the dentist!
Keep feeling good!!
Love & Hugs!...
Aunt Tracy
Hey there, Miss Kelly.
Wow, those seeds sound really cool!!! So glad they help with your nausea. And way to go on the self-flushing ... that's awesome!
You guys are doing AMAZING with your Relay team! Kathy, I replied to your email this morning. We'll get through this!!!! :)
Take care, and you guys remain in my thoughts and prayers.
~Heide
m/o ^Jessica^; forever 17
http://caringbridge.org/visit/jessicarandall
NOW we're TALKIN'!
I'm glad the Docs gave you control o' da FLO! Heck, I'd have come out there and showed you that one. Writing ads for chemo meds DOES come in useful once in a while.
You're looking great, inspirational as ever! NEWS FLASH!- Carter-cat's mom Diane is marrying my pal Pete... so NOW Carter has a REAL home!!! I still miss him as much as I miss your WayCool hair-bead thingees.
-Cold. Wet, and smilin!
Kyle
Hi Kelly,
Sorry it's been so long since I've written on your blog. The deaconate program has been keeping us super busy, along with teaching and such.
We finally got the carpeting in at the cabin and it looks great! There's still a little snow left. We're hoping to get up there for a few days around Easter.
So glad to hear that your treatment is going better; that's no fun being nauseated like that.
Mr. Turtle finally popped his head out of the ground last weekend and Mark washed all of the mud off-he was totally caked. I think he liked his bath. Maybe that's a sign that Spring is here!
There's a date conflict in us joining Team Kelly but if we can't be a part of the team, we will send a donation for sure. Good luck!
Give our love to your family. Miss you!
Love,
Laurie and Mark
Dear Kelly,
I've been trying to check your "thermometer" the last few days, and for some reason, I can't get on. I hope the campaign continues to go well.
It finally looks as if winter is ready to leave us. Then again, I've been fooled before.
I'm really delighted that those seeds work for you. I wonder what kind they are.
Have a great day!
Henry
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