Sigh of Relief

After all of Friday's worrying, my wonderful oncologist called around 9 pm on Friday night to tell me that for all of these side effects, the chemo is working! He saw my scans and the radiologist's reports and said that I look "much better"! We will know more on Tuesday at my appointment prior to chemo (blech). I was so relieved to hear that the treatment is actually effective and that all of this nausea and baldness is not for nothing. I was also so happy that Dr. Henry called me himself to tell me the good news (I don't work in the medical field, but I would say 9 pm is definitely considered "after hours"). He is the best and I feel so lucky that he's my doctor.

I've been very busy this weekend, swimming again and mall-hopping (Willow Grove on Saturday, and Montgomery today). Dan and I even had a date! We went out for dinner like normal people on a Saturday night and I ate a full meal at Effie's (love that Greek food). We tried for a movie, but it was sold out, so we rented a few DVDs and headed home.

I am definitely dreading Tuesday's treatment and trying not to think about how I'll feel a few days from now. It's certainly helpful to know that the medicine is working - it makes it a bit easier to swallow (literally and figuratively), knowing I will feel totally better eventually and this will all be behind me. For today, I am feeling mostly normal (except for the whole hair loss thing) and able to eat vegetables and shop - in person - with the best of them.

Speaking of shopping, I've been asked recently about some changes we've made in our house (and in my make-up bag). We threw out (almost) all of our plastic storage containers and replaced them with glass, mostly pyrex and some brand called martinex. I bought stainless steel snack containers for Judah's lunches and all of his cups are either stainless steel (Sigg is a good brand found at Whole Foods) or bpa-free plastic (his favorites are munchkin and nalgene). I don't know if any of it makes a bit of difference, but I do know that the cancer rates were not so high before everything was packaged and stored in plastic containers. So not only does it feel healthier, it feels olden days-ish.

As for my make-up collection, for those of you who don't know me intimately enough to know my penchant for product, I will tell you I have never been able to keep up with my love for good stuff. Lotions, hair goo, shampoos, body wash, face creams, pimple creams, blush, eye shadow, concealer, the list goes on and on (and on). I have been known to stockpile. Like I've said before, I like to be prepared (and I also like to have options). Now, I come to find out most of what I'd been using contains tons of toxins that I have been absorbing through my skin for years. So to say I've scaled back would be an understatement. I'm using NOTHING that contains parabens or phthalates (including my daily dose of eye glitter) and I finally found a healthy deodorant (aluminum-free) that works (it's by Lavanila and called: the healthy deodorant - vanilla grapefruit scent)!

Of course we have been eating mainly organic fruits and vegetables (at least the dirty dozen: Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Pears, Grapes (Imported), Spinach, Lettuce, Potatoes). Much to Dan's dismay, it is more expensive to eat this way, as I also insist that whatever dairy, egg and meat products are purchased are also organic.
It's amazing to think about the amounts of crap that go into everything we ingest. I don't want to go overboard, but it's difficult not to think that all of these environmental factors had something to do with my cancerous state. When I was pregnant with Judah, I used to hold my breath when I walked by a smoker or when I was driving behind a truck giving off big, black exhaust. I wanted to protect him from this environmental garbage before he was even born, and here I was, lotioning and lathering, eating and drinking without a care in the world.

So slowly, slowly, we are changing the way we, in our one little house, take care of ourselves. Hopefully it will become easier (read: cheaper) to do this because everyone else will try to do the same.

xxoo

Photo info: fresh bounty from my friend Alison's garden - even better than Whole Foods!

For more information about what fruits and veggies are best bought organic, see:
http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214