Feeling Good Feeling Fine

I'm now able to see the two week cycle of side effects to this whole chemotherapy process. The first five days after a treatment are ok, large daily doses of corticosteroids keep me chugging along with tons of artificial energy. The chemo does a major number on my digestive system though and it's difficult to eat for the first week. Day six with no steroids is hell, day seven more hell, day eight finally a reprieve and by day nine I'm feeling fine although a bit weak. I can't imagine doing this twelve times, my chemo regimen is six treatments. I think if I had to go twelve I would be really depressed at this point. Fact is, I'm halfway through, I don't feel like it's getting harder and I'm dealing with it pretty well.

Part of my treatment has been a range of alternative protocols recommended by a homeopathic pharmacy but mostly designed by me to address my own particular needs. I think that if I hadn't taken it upon myself to do this that I would be in much worse shape and dealing with a lot more awful side effects. I've found supplements that address nutrition, immunity, digestive health, neurological health, muscle health and more. I'm still learning new stuff every day, yesterday I added l-glutamine to my protocol. L-glutamine supports intestinal health and permeability, aids in protein synthesis and is a primary source of fuel for enterocytes (cells lining the inside of the small intestine).

It's been a learning process, mitigating all the side effects of treatment. I've learned a lot about my body and I'm happy that I'll be able to take these lessons forward with me throughout the remainder of my life. I'm grateful that I have and will have better health in the future, this would probably not have been the case had I not been punched in the face by this disease. Life has momentum, it's difficult to change course when patterns are deeply ingrained and well established. Certainly any disease that threatens your life gives you room to pause, evaluate and adjust. So, I'm pausing to kick the cancer's ass, evaluating to figure out why it might have happened in the first place and adjusting to embrace a healthier lifestyle.