Pink Eye, Sore Throats and Colds, Oh My

Yes these things have been making the rounds at my house. First my daughter Angelina woke up with a swollen, crusted over and closed eyelid. It revealed to be very red once she got it open. We were prescribed drops. The eye began to improve quickly then the other eye became infected. Then Mikayla got the pink eye, from one eye to the next. So far no one else has gotten it, but now we are all, including myself, complaining of sore throats. Even Gabbi has a bad cold. So I guess it's that time of year. I hope we can avoid anything serious. I can deal with a bit of a scratchy throat.

I have done a lot of reading that says having Lymphoma can actually weaken your immune system. So I am not sure but I don't think mine is not as strong. I seem to fight off colds and illness just as well as I ever have. I read something about being more susceptible to catching things but still, I don't feel I have gotten sick more often. I guess being careful is ok regardless, but I really have not seen a change. It's just another one of those things. You never really do know what permanent changes cancer will bring to your own life personally. You can only wait and see.

The Questions is, What Doesn't Cause Cancer?

I get tired of hearing it. I really do. Every day, something else causes cancer. Or so they say. I have been warned for years about saccharin. Stay away from artificial sweeteners! Then I hear drinks with sugar in it can cause cancer. So, I can't drink anything sweet? Don't even get me started on the whole deodorant thing. I get tired of rumors. I get tired of hearing cell phones cause cancer, diet sodas may cause cancer, and something about air fresheners now. Is it really possibly to avoid all risk? It's not. I quit smoking when I was a young girl. The thought of it disgusts me now but yes I did smoke for a couple of years when I was about 20. The thought of smoking actually hurts. I avoid smoke as much as I can. I actually am not too surprised about air fresheners because they hurt to breathe in when I was sick. Seriously. We had bought a lot of those oil kind. At my worst when I came around them it burned my throat when I breathed in around them. I went around my house pulling them out of the plugs. Then again, it hurt to breathe in dust or to be around the dog too. It's odd. I am not really sure why.

I can't forget cooking meats might cause cancer. I read something about grilling food and nonstick pans too. How are we supposed to realistically avoid these things? I am not going to stop living. I am not going to eat plates of rabbit food every single day. I'll take a vitamin and I'll do my best but I will not stop living.

Of course, my very own cancer treatments can cause cancer. So, especially since they have no clue what causes Hodgkin's it bothers me. I can't avoid what causes it because they don't know. Then again, I suppose there are many cancers like this. I have had people message me about natural remedies and all that. I was much too sick to be helped by anything other than chemo when I had it. I was informed I would not last three weeks. No amount of vegetables would have kept me from dying. I needed that treatment and it worked. I admit I need to improve my diet and I am a strong advocate of trying to eat right but I don't think we can all live our lives based on what new thing is a carcinogen. I honestly ask myself why they tell us what causes cancer. Tell us what DOESN'T because in this day and age it seems like everything causes it. Or maybe that's just me.

More on ABVD, the Chemo of Chocie for Hodgkin's Lymphoma

First of all, one of the things I learned after my diagnosis is that there are many different kinds of chemotherapy. For doctors, or other people who may have in some way previously dealt with cancer, or chemo this may seem surprising but it's true. I had kind of always assumed chemo was chemo. This is not true at all. There are specific regimens and time tables for various cancers and various stages. I saw people who had to come in 2 days in a row for chemo and I saw others who wore a machine on their side that they walked around with, for how long I do not know.

My treatment was called ABVD. This is the normal regimen for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. My doctor explained I would need 6 cycles. This means I had one treatment every 2 weeks. Each two treatments was one cycle. It got confusing for me and my hubby more often than not reminded me which cycle and/or treatment I was on.

At each appointment we would start off with a small bag of anti nausea meds that would take about 10 to 15 minutes to drip into my port. After that they would bring my meds. There were bags that didn't take so long and there was one I think that took around and hour to an hour and a half. It matters how fast they set it to drip. They had two meds they had to push into me with a syringe. These meds had to be pushed during a certain amount of time. They couldn't push too fast or too slow. When a nurse is injecting this dark red medicine into me I often fell asleep. Seriously, you wouldn't think you could but I did.

My chemotherapy treatments usually lasted around 3 1/2 hours altogether. That's JUST treatment time. That's not counting getting blood drawn, lab work, test results (which had to be done before you could ever get chemo), mixing the meds, seeing the doc, and the nurse finally getting to you. I would always be there the whole day.

Here are the meds broken down:

Adriamycin
bleomycin
vinblastine
dacarbazine

They each come with their own side effects and even long term effects. Those are all just possibilities not guarantees. Everyone reacts differently to the treatment. I had said the meds were hard to pronounce. The Adriamycin is this dark red color and by the time you finish the treatment you have to pee of course. Let me tell you, no one wants to see red pee...much less when you are pregnant. It happened every single time. I was luckily warned prior to it happening. Bleomycin can cause lung problems. I sometimes wonder if it isn't the reason I still get pressure or run out of air while singing.

I get regular checkups and I'll always have to be more aggressive in checking for other cancers, like breast, lung and thyroid. I'll need to have my heart checked to make sure there is no damage there I believe more because of radiation to that area. I don't worry about any of it too much. I try to take every day, one day at a time. You can't live in fear no matter who you are, or what you've been through. I am just thankful for each day.