This week was our 2nd session of Youth In Time, where we're going to be making Caribana costumes :)
The first thing we had to do was come up with a theme for our band, and determine what different costumes we would be making. Our theme is going to be "Dance". They asked what I was interested in, and I told them I love to dance....and VOILA....we have a theme!
Then we each picked a type of dance, and will be making a costume based on what we picked. So far, we have the following:
- Blues
- Latin
- Dancehall
- Bollywood
- Soca/Parang
- African
We decided on the colours for each as well. I'm so excited to see how these will turn out! Next week we'll be going on a field trip to shop for our materials (feathers, beads, cloth etc). Its so interesting to see this process from the beginning.....maybe after I can make my own band...hahahaha!
Princess Margaret Wig Boutique (3rd floor)
Every other Tuesday
1:00 to 3:00 pm
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
My 2 minutes of fame!!
Today was an exciting day!! I was on the CP24 news here in Toronto.... twice!!
Never would I have imagined that I would have been asked to do this! You're probably curious how I ended up there? Well, I've told you about the "Weekend to End Women's Cancers" which I will be participating in on September 10-11. Today is National Wear It Pink Day where they are raising awareness of cancers and promoting the weekend, encouraging people to register and walk.
I've been working on some fundraising ideas, and called my 'walker coach' to ask a few questions. She must have decided to check out my personal donation page, where my blog is posted, and then decided to forward my blog to the communications co-ordinator for the walk. They were looking for a survivor to talk about why they are doing the walk, and I guess I was a good fit :) I got the call on Monday asking if I would be interested in being in the news to help out.
I feel pretty honoured that they asked me to do this....so of course I said yes!! Anything I can do to help the cause :)
Then after I was done the first interview in the morning, they asked if I would come back to their studios at 12 to do another interview!! I got there and had my makeup done for me.....I thought: "I could get used to this !!"
So that was my 2 minutes of fame today! It was lots of fun!
www.endcancer.ca/goto/Kristal
Never would I have imagined that I would have been asked to do this! You're probably curious how I ended up there? Well, I've told you about the "Weekend to End Women's Cancers" which I will be participating in on September 10-11. Today is National Wear It Pink Day where they are raising awareness of cancers and promoting the weekend, encouraging people to register and walk.
I've been working on some fundraising ideas, and called my 'walker coach' to ask a few questions. She must have decided to check out my personal donation page, where my blog is posted, and then decided to forward my blog to the communications co-ordinator for the walk. They were looking for a survivor to talk about why they are doing the walk, and I guess I was a good fit :) I got the call on Monday asking if I would be interested in being in the news to help out.
I feel pretty honoured that they asked me to do this....so of course I said yes!! Anything I can do to help the cause :)
Then after I was done the first interview in the morning, they asked if I would come back to their studios at 12 to do another interview!! I got there and had my makeup done for me.....I thought: "I could get used to this !!"
So that was my 2 minutes of fame today! It was lots of fun!
www.endcancer.ca/goto/Kristal
With Nalini Sharma the reporter
Reeva and I WEAR IT PINK! Go Team Pink Diamond!
At the CP24 studio being interviewed by Stephen LeDrew
(It's small, but that's me in the middle there...I swear)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
This one is worse!!
At my chemo treatment last Wed, I did get my wish: I only got poked once on Wednesday....they got the vein in the first try ! And I got free cookies!! :)
In fact, everything was going great. I didn't feel any side effects really that day. The day after I was walking about like normal, feeling great. Friday is when I started to feel a little tired, but I was still able to be out and about.
Then it just went downhill from there!! I woke up from pains in my body Friday night. The doctor prescribed me some Tylenol 3 tablets, so I just popped one in and went back to sleep. On Saturday it got worse. I felt like I was 90 years old....all my joints were hurting me and I couldn't stand up for very long.
From Saturday night until this morning (Tues), I've pretty much been in bed the whole time. I've felt so weak. Pains all over my body, like a bad flu. And if that's not bad enough, my stomach has not been too good either (if you know what I mean) and my whole mouth is sore.
When they said the muscle and joint pains will be bad, and that this chemo regiment would be tougher, I really didn't believe them. I thought how bad can muscle pains really be? Ha......well I was wrong!! This is definitely worse than the other chemo cocktail! I hope these pains go away soon.
In fact, everything was going great. I didn't feel any side effects really that day. The day after I was walking about like normal, feeling great. Friday is when I started to feel a little tired, but I was still able to be out and about.
Then it just went downhill from there!! I woke up from pains in my body Friday night. The doctor prescribed me some Tylenol 3 tablets, so I just popped one in and went back to sleep. On Saturday it got worse. I felt like I was 90 years old....all my joints were hurting me and I couldn't stand up for very long.
From Saturday night until this morning (Tues), I've pretty much been in bed the whole time. I've felt so weak. Pains all over my body, like a bad flu. And if that's not bad enough, my stomach has not been too good either (if you know what I mean) and my whole mouth is sore.
When they said the muscle and joint pains will be bad, and that this chemo regiment would be tougher, I really didn't believe them. I thought how bad can muscle pains really be? Ha......well I was wrong!! This is definitely worse than the other chemo cocktail! I hope these pains go away soon.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Why Women in China do not get Breast Cancer
A LONG BUT VERY INTERESTING READ FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN.
(I received this article from more than one person and I just wanted to continue to share it)
WHY WOMEN IN CHINA DO NOT GET BREAST CANCER By Prof. Jane Plant, PhD, CBE
I had no alternative but to die or to try to find a cure for myself. I am a scientist - surely there was a rational explanation for this cruel illness that affects one in 12 women in the UK ?
I had suffered the loss of one breast, and undergone radiotherapy I was now receiving painful chemotherapy, and had been seen by some of the country's most eminent specialists. But, deep down, I felt certain I was facing death. I had a loving husband, a beautiful home and two young children to care for. I desperately wanted to live. Fortunately, this desire drove me to unearth the facts, some of which were known only to a handful of scientists at the time.
Anyone who has come into contact with breast cancer will know that certain risk factors - such as increasing age, early onset of womanhood, late onset of menopause and a family history of breast cancer - are completely out of our control. But there are many risk factors, which we can control easily. These "controllable" risk factors readily translate into simple changes that we can all make in our day-to-day lives to help prevent or treat breast cancer. My message is that even advanced breast cancer can be overcome because I have done it.
The first clue to understanding what was promoting my breast cancer came when my husband Peter, who was also a scientist, arrived back from working in China while I was being plugged in for a chemotherapy session. He had brought with him cards and letters, as well as some amazing herbal suppositories, sent by my friends and science colleagues in China . The suppositories were sent to me as a cure for breast cancer. Despite the awfulness of the situation, we both had a good belly laugh, and I remember saying that this was the treatment for breast cancer in China , then it was little wonder that Chinese women avoided getting the disease.
Those words echoed in my mind. Why didn't Chinese women in China get breast cancer?
I had collaborated once with Chinese colleagues on a study of links between soil chemistry and disease, and I remembered some of the statistics. The disease was virtually non-existent throughout the whole country. Only one in 10,000 women in China will die from it, compared to that terrible figure of one in 12 in Britain and the even grimmer average of one in 10 across most Western countries.
It is not just a matter of China being a more rural country, with less urban pollution. In highly urbanized Hong Kong , the rate rises to 34 women in every 10,000 but still puts the West to shame. The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have similar rates. And remember, both cities were attacked with nuclear weapons, so in addition to the usual pollution-related cancers, one would also expect to find some radiation-related cases, too.
The conclusion we can draw from these statistics strikes you with some force. If a Western woman were to move to industrialized, irradiated Hiroshima , she would slash her risk of contracting breast cancer by half. Obviously this is absurd. It seemed obvious to me that some lifestyle factor not related to pollution, urbanization or the environment is seriously increasing the Western woman's chance of contracting breast cancer.
I then discovered that whatever causes the huge differences in breast cancer rates between oriental and Western countries, it isn't genetic. Scientific research showed that when Chinese or Japanese people move to the West, within one or two generations their rates of breast cancer approach those of their host community. The same thing happens when oriental people adopt a completely Western lifestyle in Hong Kong . In fact, the slang name for breast cancer in China translates as 'Rich Woman's Disease'. This is because, in China , only the better off can afford to eat what is termed ' Hong Kong food'.
The Chinese describe all Western food, including everything from ice cream and chocolate bars to spaghetti and feta cheese, as "Hong Kong food", because of its availability in the former British colony and its scarcity, in the past, in mainland China . So it made perfect sense to me that whatever was causing my breast cancer and the shockingly high incidence in this country generally, it was almost certainly something to do with our better-off, middle-class, Western lifestyle.
There is an important point for men here, too. I have observed in my research that much of the data about prostate cancer leads to similar conclusions. According to figures from the World Health Organization, the number of men contracting prostate cancer in rural China is negligible, only 0.5 men in every 100,000. In England , Scotland and Wales , however, this figure is 70 times higher. Like breast cancer, it is a middle-class disease that primarily attacks the wealthier and higher socio-economic groups, those that can afford to eat rich foods.
I remember saying to my husband, "Come on Peter, you have just come back from China . What is it about the Chinese way of life that is so different?" Why don't they get breast cancer?' We decided to utilize our joint scientific backgrounds and approach it logically. We examined scientific data that pointed us in the general direction of fats in diets.
Researchers had discovered in the 1980s that only l4% of calories in the average Chinese diet were from fat, compared to almost 36% in the West. But the diet I had been living on for years before I contracted breast cancer was very low in fat and high in fibre. Besides, I knew as a scientist that fat intake in adults has not been shown to increase risk for breast cancer in most investigations that have followed large groups of women for up to a dozen years.
Then one day something rather special happened Peter and I have worked together so closely over the years that I am not sure which one of us first said:
"The Chinese don't eat dairy produce!"
It is hard to explain to a non-scientist the sudden mental and emotional 'buzz' you get when you know you have had an important insight. It's as if you have had a lot of pieces of a jigsaw in your mind, and suddenly, in a few seconds, they all fall into place and the whole picture is clear.
Suddenly I recalled how many Chinese people were physically unable to tolerate milk, how the Chinese people I had worked with had always said that milk was only for babies, and how one of my close friends, who is of Chinese origin, always politely turned down the cheese course at dinner parties.
I knew of no Chinese people who lived a traditional Chinese life who ever used cow or other dairy food to feed their babies. The tradition was to use a wet nurse but never, ever, dairy products. Culturally, the Chinese find our Western preoccupation with milk and milk products very strange. I remember entertaining a large delegation of Chinese scientists shortly after the ending of the Cultural Revolution in the 1980s. On advice from the Foreign Office, we had asked the caterer to provide a pudding that contained a lot of ice cream After inquiring what the pudding consisted of, all of the Chinese, including their interpreter, politely but firmly refused to eat it, and they could not be persuaded to change their minds. At the time we were all delighted and ate extra portions!
Milk, I discovered, is one of the most common causes of food allergies. Over 70% of the world's population are unable to digest the milk sugar, lactose, which has led nutritionists to believe that this is the normal condition for adults, not some sort of deficiency. Perhaps nature is trying to tell us that we are eating the wrong food.
Before I had breast cancer for the first time, I had eaten a lot of dairy produce, such as skimmed milk, low-fat cheese and yogurt. I had used it as my main source of protein. I also ate cheap but lean minced beef, which I now realized was probably often ground-up dairy cow.
In order to cope with the chemotherapy I received for my fifth case of cancer, I had been eating organic yogurts as a way of helping my digestive tract to recover and repopulate my gut with 'good' bacteria.
Recently, I discovered that way back in 1989 yogurt had been implicated in ovarian cancer. Dr Daniel Cramer of Harvard University studied hundreds of women with ovarian cancer, and had them record in detail what they normally ate. Wish I'd been made aware of his findings when he had first discovered them.
Following Peter's and my insight into the Chinese diet, I decided to give up not just yogurt but all dairy produce immediately. Cheese, butter, milk and yogurt and anything else that contained dairy produce - it went down the sink or in the rubbish.
It is surprising how many products, including commercial soups, biscuits and cakes, contain some form of dairy produce Even many proprietary brands of margarine marketed as soya, sunflower or olive oil spreads can contain dairy produce. I therefore became an avid reader of the small print on food labels.
Up to this point, I had been steadfastly measuring the progress of my fifth cancerous lump with callipers and plotting the results. Despite all the encouraging comments and positive feedback from my doctors and nurses, my own precise observations told me the bitter truth.
My first chemotherapy sessions had produced no effect - the lump was still the same size. Then I eliminated dairy products. Within days, the lump started to shrink. About two weeks after my second chemotherapy session and one week after giving up dairy produce, the lump in my neck started to itch. Then it began to soften and to reduce in size. The line on the graph, which had shown no change, was now pointing downwards as the tumour got smaller and smaller. And, very significantly, I noted that instead of declining exponentially (a graceful curve) as cancer is meant to do, the tumour's decrease in size was plotted on a straight line heading off the bottom of the graph, indicating a cure, not suppression (or remission) of the tumour.
One Saturday afternoon after about six weeks of excluding all dairy produce from my diet, I practised an hour of meditation then felt for what was left of the lump. I couldn't find it. Yet I was very experienced at detecting cancerous lumps - I had discovered all five cancers on my own. I went downstairs and asked my husband to feel my neck. He could not find any trace of the lump either.
On the following Thursday I was due to be seen by my cancer specialist at Charing Cross Hospital in London . He examined me thoroughly, especially my neck where the tumour had been. He was initially bemused and then delighted as he said, "I cannot find it." None of my doctors, it appeared, had expected someone with my type and stage of cancer (which had clearly spread to the lymph system) to survive, let alone be so hale and hearty.
My specialist was as overjoyed as I was. When I first discussed my ideas with him he was understandably sceptical. But I understand that he now uses maps showing cancer mortality in China in his lectures, and recommends a non-dairy diet to his cancer patients.
I now believe that the link between dairy produce and breast cancer is similar to the link between smoking and lung cancer.
I believe that identifying the link between breast cancer and dairy produce, and then developing a diet specifically targeted at maintaining the health of my breast and hormone system, cured me.
It was difficult for me, as it may be for you, to accept that a substance as 'natural' as milk might have such ominous health implications. But I am a living proof that it works and, starting from tomorrow, I shall reveal the secrets of my revolutionary action plan.
Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plan
(I received this article from more than one person and I just wanted to continue to share it)
WHY WOMEN IN CHINA DO NOT GET BREAST CANCER By Prof. Jane Plant, PhD, CBE
I had no alternative but to die or to try to find a cure for myself. I am a scientist - surely there was a rational explanation for this cruel illness that affects one in 12 women in the UK ?
I had suffered the loss of one breast, and undergone radiotherapy I was now receiving painful chemotherapy, and had been seen by some of the country's most eminent specialists. But, deep down, I felt certain I was facing death. I had a loving husband, a beautiful home and two young children to care for. I desperately wanted to live. Fortunately, this desire drove me to unearth the facts, some of which were known only to a handful of scientists at the time.
Anyone who has come into contact with breast cancer will know that certain risk factors - such as increasing age, early onset of womanhood, late onset of menopause and a family history of breast cancer - are completely out of our control. But there are many risk factors, which we can control easily. These "controllable" risk factors readily translate into simple changes that we can all make in our day-to-day lives to help prevent or treat breast cancer. My message is that even advanced breast cancer can be overcome because I have done it.
The first clue to understanding what was promoting my breast cancer came when my husband Peter, who was also a scientist, arrived back from working in China while I was being plugged in for a chemotherapy session. He had brought with him cards and letters, as well as some amazing herbal suppositories, sent by my friends and science colleagues in China . The suppositories were sent to me as a cure for breast cancer. Despite the awfulness of the situation, we both had a good belly laugh, and I remember saying that this was the treatment for breast cancer in China , then it was little wonder that Chinese women avoided getting the disease.
Those words echoed in my mind. Why didn't Chinese women in China get breast cancer?
I had collaborated once with Chinese colleagues on a study of links between soil chemistry and disease, and I remembered some of the statistics. The disease was virtually non-existent throughout the whole country. Only one in 10,000 women in China will die from it, compared to that terrible figure of one in 12 in Britain and the even grimmer average of one in 10 across most Western countries.
It is not just a matter of China being a more rural country, with less urban pollution. In highly urbanized Hong Kong , the rate rises to 34 women in every 10,000 but still puts the West to shame. The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have similar rates. And remember, both cities were attacked with nuclear weapons, so in addition to the usual pollution-related cancers, one would also expect to find some radiation-related cases, too.
The conclusion we can draw from these statistics strikes you with some force. If a Western woman were to move to industrialized, irradiated Hiroshima , she would slash her risk of contracting breast cancer by half. Obviously this is absurd. It seemed obvious to me that some lifestyle factor not related to pollution, urbanization or the environment is seriously increasing the Western woman's chance of contracting breast cancer.
I then discovered that whatever causes the huge differences in breast cancer rates between oriental and Western countries, it isn't genetic. Scientific research showed that when Chinese or Japanese people move to the West, within one or two generations their rates of breast cancer approach those of their host community. The same thing happens when oriental people adopt a completely Western lifestyle in Hong Kong . In fact, the slang name for breast cancer in China translates as 'Rich Woman's Disease'. This is because, in China , only the better off can afford to eat what is termed ' Hong Kong food'.
The Chinese describe all Western food, including everything from ice cream and chocolate bars to spaghetti and feta cheese, as "Hong Kong food", because of its availability in the former British colony and its scarcity, in the past, in mainland China . So it made perfect sense to me that whatever was causing my breast cancer and the shockingly high incidence in this country generally, it was almost certainly something to do with our better-off, middle-class, Western lifestyle.
There is an important point for men here, too. I have observed in my research that much of the data about prostate cancer leads to similar conclusions. According to figures from the World Health Organization, the number of men contracting prostate cancer in rural China is negligible, only 0.5 men in every 100,000. In England , Scotland and Wales , however, this figure is 70 times higher. Like breast cancer, it is a middle-class disease that primarily attacks the wealthier and higher socio-economic groups, those that can afford to eat rich foods.
I remember saying to my husband, "Come on Peter, you have just come back from China . What is it about the Chinese way of life that is so different?" Why don't they get breast cancer?' We decided to utilize our joint scientific backgrounds and approach it logically. We examined scientific data that pointed us in the general direction of fats in diets.
Researchers had discovered in the 1980s that only l4% of calories in the average Chinese diet were from fat, compared to almost 36% in the West. But the diet I had been living on for years before I contracted breast cancer was very low in fat and high in fibre. Besides, I knew as a scientist that fat intake in adults has not been shown to increase risk for breast cancer in most investigations that have followed large groups of women for up to a dozen years.
Then one day something rather special happened Peter and I have worked together so closely over the years that I am not sure which one of us first said:
"The Chinese don't eat dairy produce!"
It is hard to explain to a non-scientist the sudden mental and emotional 'buzz' you get when you know you have had an important insight. It's as if you have had a lot of pieces of a jigsaw in your mind, and suddenly, in a few seconds, they all fall into place and the whole picture is clear.
Suddenly I recalled how many Chinese people were physically unable to tolerate milk, how the Chinese people I had worked with had always said that milk was only for babies, and how one of my close friends, who is of Chinese origin, always politely turned down the cheese course at dinner parties.
I knew of no Chinese people who lived a traditional Chinese life who ever used cow or other dairy food to feed their babies. The tradition was to use a wet nurse but never, ever, dairy products. Culturally, the Chinese find our Western preoccupation with milk and milk products very strange. I remember entertaining a large delegation of Chinese scientists shortly after the ending of the Cultural Revolution in the 1980s. On advice from the Foreign Office, we had asked the caterer to provide a pudding that contained a lot of ice cream After inquiring what the pudding consisted of, all of the Chinese, including their interpreter, politely but firmly refused to eat it, and they could not be persuaded to change their minds. At the time we were all delighted and ate extra portions!
Milk, I discovered, is one of the most common causes of food allergies. Over 70% of the world's population are unable to digest the milk sugar, lactose, which has led nutritionists to believe that this is the normal condition for adults, not some sort of deficiency. Perhaps nature is trying to tell us that we are eating the wrong food.
Before I had breast cancer for the first time, I had eaten a lot of dairy produce, such as skimmed milk, low-fat cheese and yogurt. I had used it as my main source of protein. I also ate cheap but lean minced beef, which I now realized was probably often ground-up dairy cow.
In order to cope with the chemotherapy I received for my fifth case of cancer, I had been eating organic yogurts as a way of helping my digestive tract to recover and repopulate my gut with 'good' bacteria.
Recently, I discovered that way back in 1989 yogurt had been implicated in ovarian cancer. Dr Daniel Cramer of Harvard University studied hundreds of women with ovarian cancer, and had them record in detail what they normally ate. Wish I'd been made aware of his findings when he had first discovered them.
Following Peter's and my insight into the Chinese diet, I decided to give up not just yogurt but all dairy produce immediately. Cheese, butter, milk and yogurt and anything else that contained dairy produce - it went down the sink or in the rubbish.
It is surprising how many products, including commercial soups, biscuits and cakes, contain some form of dairy produce Even many proprietary brands of margarine marketed as soya, sunflower or olive oil spreads can contain dairy produce. I therefore became an avid reader of the small print on food labels.
Up to this point, I had been steadfastly measuring the progress of my fifth cancerous lump with callipers and plotting the results. Despite all the encouraging comments and positive feedback from my doctors and nurses, my own precise observations told me the bitter truth.
My first chemotherapy sessions had produced no effect - the lump was still the same size. Then I eliminated dairy products. Within days, the lump started to shrink. About two weeks after my second chemotherapy session and one week after giving up dairy produce, the lump in my neck started to itch. Then it began to soften and to reduce in size. The line on the graph, which had shown no change, was now pointing downwards as the tumour got smaller and smaller. And, very significantly, I noted that instead of declining exponentially (a graceful curve) as cancer is meant to do, the tumour's decrease in size was plotted on a straight line heading off the bottom of the graph, indicating a cure, not suppression (or remission) of the tumour.
One Saturday afternoon after about six weeks of excluding all dairy produce from my diet, I practised an hour of meditation then felt for what was left of the lump. I couldn't find it. Yet I was very experienced at detecting cancerous lumps - I had discovered all five cancers on my own. I went downstairs and asked my husband to feel my neck. He could not find any trace of the lump either.
On the following Thursday I was due to be seen by my cancer specialist at Charing Cross Hospital in London . He examined me thoroughly, especially my neck where the tumour had been. He was initially bemused and then delighted as he said, "I cannot find it." None of my doctors, it appeared, had expected someone with my type and stage of cancer (which had clearly spread to the lymph system) to survive, let alone be so hale and hearty.
My specialist was as overjoyed as I was. When I first discussed my ideas with him he was understandably sceptical. But I understand that he now uses maps showing cancer mortality in China in his lectures, and recommends a non-dairy diet to his cancer patients.
I now believe that the link between dairy produce and breast cancer is similar to the link between smoking and lung cancer.
I believe that identifying the link between breast cancer and dairy produce, and then developing a diet specifically targeted at maintaining the health of my breast and hormone system, cured me.
It was difficult for me, as it may be for you, to accept that a substance as 'natural' as milk might have such ominous health implications. But I am a living proof that it works and, starting from tomorrow, I shall reveal the secrets of my revolutionary action plan.
Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plan
Youth In Time
A few weeks ago I went to a Head Wrap workshop at the hospital. I learnt some of the African head wrapping techniques, and it was so much fun! The women who run the program are amazing. They're so full of positive energy, and they volunteer their time to do this because they love to see the smiles on the faces of the cancer patients!
When I was at this session they informed me of a new program that they were now starting up, this time with a focus on the youth (under 30.....Yay I'm still a youth!!). "Youth In Time" was developed to help the youth battling cancer. Its a program where we can meet up once every 2 weeks, and just have fun!! For their first project, guess what we're making....ok I'll just tell you....a Carnival/Caribana costume!! As this is such a big part of my Trinidad culture, I couldn't be more excited! I've worn the costumes, and been admiring them from since I could remember, but I have no idea what making one entails. So I'm really thrilled to be a part of this!
Our first meeting was last week, just for us to get acquainted with each other, and discuss the plans for the next few months. It sounds very promising. Thanks Paulene, Naza and Judiene for making this happen!
When I was at this session they informed me of a new program that they were now starting up, this time with a focus on the youth (under 30.....Yay I'm still a youth!!). "Youth In Time" was developed to help the youth battling cancer. Its a program where we can meet up once every 2 weeks, and just have fun!! For their first project, guess what we're making....ok I'll just tell you....a Carnival/Caribana costume!! As this is such a big part of my Trinidad culture, I couldn't be more excited! I've worn the costumes, and been admiring them from since I could remember, but I have no idea what making one entails. So I'm really thrilled to be a part of this!
Our first meeting was last week, just for us to get acquainted with each other, and discuss the plans for the next few months. It sounds very promising. Thanks Paulene, Naza and Judiene for making this happen!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Treatment # 4 tomorrow.....Eeeek!
Tomorrow morning is my next treatment....#4. The next 3 treatments are going to be a different cocktail to what I've been given so far. Its called "Docetaxel" or "Taxotere". I'm nervous again cause these side effects won't be the same as the last one, and I don't know how my body will react exactly. But I haven't been given good encouragement.......I've been hearing that this drug is going to be tougher, make me more tired and "It's like hell!! "....greaaaaaaaaaaaaat!
I got a sheet with a list of possible side effects. I can expect some of the following:
- Muscle aches
- Eye tearing
- Red, itchy skin; skin shedding
- Nail changes, yellow-orange colour or becoming brittle
- Water retention in arms and legs
- Numbness and tingling in hands and feet
Well this should be fun! (sarcasm intended!!)
For the last treatment they had some problems finding my veins for the IV so they had to stick me 3 times, and I ended up with a big bruise on my arm (which is only now disappearing!!). I actually did cry...I'm a bit more emotional these days ok!! :P I didn't realize how frustrating it would be to get stuck with a needle like that over and over again. Now I have a new fear of needles!!
Also because the drugs are so toxic, my veins seem to be collapsing. My arm hurts where I got the IV's put in, and the veins look more purple than blue/green.
But enough complaining! They say its important to keep a positive mind. I hope tomorrow goes better (only one poke of the needle please please please). And let there be free cookies!! YaY!
I got a sheet with a list of possible side effects. I can expect some of the following:
- Muscle aches
- Eye tearing
- Red, itchy skin; skin shedding
- Nail changes, yellow-orange colour or becoming brittle
- Water retention in arms and legs
- Numbness and tingling in hands and feet
Well this should be fun! (sarcasm intended!!)
For the last treatment they had some problems finding my veins for the IV so they had to stick me 3 times, and I ended up with a big bruise on my arm (which is only now disappearing!!). I actually did cry...I'm a bit more emotional these days ok!! :P I didn't realize how frustrating it would be to get stuck with a needle like that over and over again. Now I have a new fear of needles!!
Also because the drugs are so toxic, my veins seem to be collapsing. My arm hurts where I got the IV's put in, and the veins look more purple than blue/green.
But enough complaining! They say its important to keep a positive mind. I hope tomorrow goes better (only one poke of the needle please please please). And let there be free cookies!! YaY!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
I have the "easy" cancer
Recently I started Yoga classes, and its been sooo good! There's an organization here called Wellspring that offers support to cancer patients, and they have free classes available! Its a 5 minute walk from my place, so I decided to try out the Yoga...gentle Yoga to be more specific...since I can't really do anything too strenuous. I find it very relaxing, and it just makes me feel like I'm getting rid of the toxins in my body and clearing my mind of all things negative. You should see me doing the cobra and the tiger .....the instructor says I'm a natural!! :)
So at the last class I went to this week, there was a lady there for the first time. Bald like me, she said she was finishing up her treatments and wanted to start back Yoga. One of the other guys asked her what kind of cancer she had, and she said "Breast Cancer."
He responded with "Oh you have the easy cancer!"
The easy cancer?? She was thrown back by that comment. "Well it definitely doesn't feel like the easy kind to me!!"
I kinda chuckled to myself at this conversation. The man quickly explained himself saying that he meant its a treatable cancer....that he meant "easy" in that Breast Cancer no longer seems like a death sentence because they have developed good treatment programmes to deal with this type of cancer.
I guess that is true. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer found in women, so they've done alot of work on this type of cancer. Also, the breast isn't a vital organ in the body, so its easy to just cut it out and get rid of the tumour. Then do some chemo, maybe radiation, and within a few months you're back to life as normal (for the most part).
This poor guy had lung cancer. He told me he's been going to that place for 5 years now, so I guess its been a long battle for him. And you can't just cut out your lungs and continue life as normal, can you?? I also know of another young woman who had cancer in her leg, and had to amputate the whole limb!
So maybe I do have the "easy" cancer. But yeah, if this doesn't feel easy, I can't imagine what the "difficult" ones feel like!
So at the last class I went to this week, there was a lady there for the first time. Bald like me, she said she was finishing up her treatments and wanted to start back Yoga. One of the other guys asked her what kind of cancer she had, and she said "Breast Cancer."
He responded with "Oh you have the easy cancer!"
The easy cancer?? She was thrown back by that comment. "Well it definitely doesn't feel like the easy kind to me!!"
I kinda chuckled to myself at this conversation. The man quickly explained himself saying that he meant its a treatable cancer....that he meant "easy" in that Breast Cancer no longer seems like a death sentence because they have developed good treatment programmes to deal with this type of cancer.
I guess that is true. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer found in women, so they've done alot of work on this type of cancer. Also, the breast isn't a vital organ in the body, so its easy to just cut it out and get rid of the tumour. Then do some chemo, maybe radiation, and within a few months you're back to life as normal (for the most part).
This poor guy had lung cancer. He told me he's been going to that place for 5 years now, so I guess its been a long battle for him. And you can't just cut out your lungs and continue life as normal, can you?? I also know of another young woman who had cancer in her leg, and had to amputate the whole limb!
So maybe I do have the "easy" cancer. But yeah, if this doesn't feel easy, I can't imagine what the "difficult" ones feel like!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Come join me!
I have signed up to participate in The Weekend to End Women's Cancers which will be taking place in Toronto on Sept 10-11, 2011. This is a two-day, 60-kilometre or one-day 32-kilometre walk throughout Toronto! My dear friend set up a team in my honour called "Pink Diamond". I've never participated before, but now.....well with all I've been going through.....it seems like the perfect year to do it!
I've witnessed first-hand what events like this do to help people like me! This event supports Princess Margaret Hospital which is where I'm being treated, and I can tell you that I've been treated really well here!! It is really amazing how much they do for their patients.....and it goes well beyond just the surgery and chemotherapy.
There are so many programs such as the "Look Good Feel Better" one I told you about in an earlier blog (where they give free makeup) or the "Head Wrap Class" (where you learn how to wrap your head in style!). They provide counselling, relaxation classes, information sessions, support groups!
Sooooo, this is why I am participating........so that this hospital can continue providing these services and more to its patients, because it really has made a big impact in my journey!
If you're interested in joining my team, here is the link to my page where you can sign up! (The team password is "Kristal"):
Weekend to End Womens Cancers - Kristal's personal page
Each participant needs to raise $2,000 in order to walk. I've set my goal at $3,200 however, and hope to exceed that! If you can't participate with me, then you can still support by donating to the cause through the link above as well.
Thanks so much!!
I've witnessed first-hand what events like this do to help people like me! This event supports Princess Margaret Hospital which is where I'm being treated, and I can tell you that I've been treated really well here!! It is really amazing how much they do for their patients.....and it goes well beyond just the surgery and chemotherapy.
There are so many programs such as the "Look Good Feel Better" one I told you about in an earlier blog (where they give free makeup) or the "Head Wrap Class" (where you learn how to wrap your head in style!). They provide counselling, relaxation classes, information sessions, support groups!
Sooooo, this is why I am participating........so that this hospital can continue providing these services and more to its patients, because it really has made a big impact in my journey!
If you're interested in joining my team, here is the link to my page where you can sign up! (The team password is "Kristal"):
Weekend to End Womens Cancers - Kristal's personal page
Each participant needs to raise $2,000 in order to walk. I've set my goal at $3,200 however, and hope to exceed that! If you can't participate with me, then you can still support by donating to the cause through the link above as well.
Thanks so much!!
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