My Beach Cruiser and the fun we had....

Well Saturday turned out to be an awesome day to go for a bike ride with my honey. It felt so incredibly fabulous to be riding my beach cruiser with him finally after all these months of having the gorgeous bike parked in my garage! We finally got to go on a bike ride together!)

It was about noon-time on Saturday (we got to sleep in) and I still had another hour to be hooked up to that feeding thing. I even made him his favorite breakfast of tots, bacon, and eggs over easy!) We got everything ready to go for our bike ride (a backpack with water, frisbees, and the camera) and then by 1:15 after the TPN had been disconnected from me; we got our bikes together with Blue Belle in hand and went on our bike ride to Mary Jane Park which is about 8 or so blocks from our home.

There are a bunch of little shortcuts to take to get to this park. Since my bike is more or less an old lady bike; only has 3 speeds and works comfortably going very, very slow or even somewhat fast; I was better able to lead Miss Blue Belle since she got tired and had to go slow often. I don't like to go fast anyway; just cruise and enjoy the ride! Miss Blue Belle is out of shape and I had to slow down quite a bit for her as she ran out of breath a few times. No worries, I plan to get this girl in shape in no time. We weren't able to make it to her favorite pet store this weekend, but will be able to tomorrow after Chemo.

Seeing me have a blast riding on my beautiful cruiser got my husband thinking about getting himself a nice beach cruiser for himself. I wasn't in the least amount of pain riding my bike because it has such a nice cushy seat for my bony ass and plenty of padding so that I never got those horrid ass pains from riding on one of those freaky triangle shaped seats that are actually excellent at creating horrid hemorrhoid pain for those who are riding with slow pokes such as myself.

I know I have been told several times by several different people that there are seats for dudes and seats for women that are made specifically for their genital parts and sitting on the seat which does not look or feel all that comfortable. Why concentrate on those parts when you are actually sitting on your ass? I don't know for sure if this is true or not but several people have told me this. The seats are shaped so weird like a triangle and then the inside of the triangle is missing. How is this enough to cover someone's ass? I don't get it. I see them as potential genital mutilation seats. I know, I have ridden on both of our old bikes (they both have the genital mutilation seats) to know they don't make you feel good sitting on them for too long. I would often get butthole pains from sitting on those seats for too long and sometimes rashes on my ass from sitting on the seat for so long. So far, Beach Cruisers rock and from what my honey tells me might be a bit similar to what many Harley riders do as they roll up to stop lights. The trick is that you can ride as slow as you possible can or would like to with out tipping over.

After our ride to Mary Jane Park, we rode up to the local pub for a beer. It was just a few blocks away. I had my first beer in over a month (maybe longer); it was a Guiness which tends to be better on my stomach and also very good for my blood since it is such a dark beer. We mostly just sat in the bar, had some good conversation with several of the locals and mostly just had a good time together. It was so nice to finally be back there again and to see many whom I haven't seen in months. I was finally out of the house and the two of us were out having fun together rather than heading to the hospital for a treatment or a blood test; we were having fun and we didn't drive! What a miracle this weekend has been!

Well we got home and then got ready to go out to eat at Aqui in Downtown Campbell. We both go the Blackened Mahi Mahi with chopped Mangos and cucumber and mashed sweet potatoes. I ate maybe a third of my meal as it was the first real meal I have had in over a month. I made sure I chewed everything as good as possible and drank plenty of water. What an awesome dinner! Also, most often very beautiful old cars are parked in downtown Campbell so as usual we always have to photograph those pretty cars.

Well when I got home the pain started to get out of control so I took a Percocet to control the pain for right then and it worked a little bit until the muscle spasms started; then I had to take an Ativan. These were pretty bad muscle spasms and eventually they passed. See I only have to deal with the pain for part of the day or evening; it's not constant as it used to be. I still suffer in pain (mostly in the evening and when I wake up) but at least I don't have to do something constantly. anymore. I'm improving slowly or at least I hope that I am. Sometimes I just don't know for sure.

Well today we had planned to ride our bikes to the Farmer's Market and had all intentions of doing so. Well we woke up in time and were able to make it to the hospital (Lab) for a blood draw and urine analysis just prior to my chemo tomorrow morning at 9am. I had to warn the ladies as usual since I didn't recognize anyone today that I am a very hard stick! Be prepared and get me a butterfly needle!) One woman walked up to me very sympathetically and told me she wished me the best in my battle. She knew I had been fighting for many years and I plan to fight for many more I told her! My honey came up right behind me as she was bandaging me up (my she was fast!) and kissed my forehead. He was so loving towards me and made me so proud to have this handsome man waiting for me here. Then I had to do the urine thingy and we were done!)

Well we got home from the hospital and got ready to get me off the feeding machine an hour early. After getting off the TPN we just drove to the Farmer's Market to meet up with some of Jimmy's friends from the local pub. The Market closes at 1pm and we would not have made it in time had we rode the bikes. (yes we overslept and got our day started rather late!) but we slept in together!) We got to the market and got mostly fruit; I didn't get my usual Vegan and Gluten Free Rasberry, Poppyseed, Creamcheese Muffin, but I did get a Blue Berry Cream Cheese Muffin for tomorrow! Yes, I still get to eat some of the fattening fun things as long as I chew it carefully and mindfully and drink plenty of water. Some stool softeners won't hurt either!)

We stopped and had lunch at this Irish Bar and watched part of the Packer Game with Jimmy's sweet friends; I had a kid's pasta portion which was very simple for me to eat and caused my tummy hardly any pains. The Packers were kicking ass so my hubby was happy and I was happy too! We were spending another fun day together! We even went to a few bike shops to look at cruisers for my honey. He had spent hours on the internet the night before checking out Beach Cruisers; so this will be fun; having him test and ride the cruisers to see the difference and maybe even the excitement of getting one. They are handmade here in the United States; so here's to helping out our local economy!)

After wards, we headed back home and I took my neighbor's daughter out for a cruise on the bikes. She rode her little bike and is still learning how to ride. She can't turn for some reason and it's hard for me to tell her how to turn. Now she is 14 years old, has had brain surgery for Cancer and is a 10 year survivor now; that she just celebrated a clear scan. I have no idea why it is so hard but I am unable to teach her how to look where she would like to go; instead she looks at where she doesn't want to go and sometimes she has these little crashes in fear. They don't look so pleasant but I'm being very patient with her. I try to show her how easy it is on my bike just by riding around and still she does the same thing, she rides straight and then when she needs to turn; she slams on the brakes and nearly crashes. I tried to keep telling her to look where she would like to go and instead she keeps on looking where she wants to crash and does just that? It was a little frustrating and I'm hoping she gains some more trust in me teaching her to ride. She did make some tiny baby steps today and almost went in a complete circle at the church parking lot (it was mostly empty).

My poor honey can't really ride that well with me since the stupid bike seat hurts his ass (it's not at all comfy) and I go too slow. He has the mountain bike that requires speed; it's not at all for cruising. No matter what; I'm getting stronger and stronger this week and will work on riding my bike since I am doing much better at this than walking. Here's to more healing and getting stronger!)

The riding of the bikes

Despite this blockage working its way out and still living in some amount of pain; I was able to free myself of this pain (with the help of my most trusted plant) and to continue my day having fun. These are the little things in life I so treasure!)

My husband and I awoke somewhat early and got our leathers, jeans, and motorcycle gear on and headed to Amanda's (neighbor girl) 14th birthday party!. She had invited us and we had given her our word that we would show up. It wasn't raining and no huge storm had already arrived so we were available to come to this party and what a beautiful day to take out the 2006 Dyna Street Bob.

We rode up in style and up onto the sidewalk to park right there in front of the restaurant (Cicero's Pizza) The grand entrance we had made but of course her party was just small enough to warrant the very back of the restaurant behind a barrier where the kids and parents were sure not to notice us at all.

We stayed for a little while and gave Amanda a gift and a card - I had filled out a card a few days before but lost it (look I will find it in just a few more days, weeks, or months) so I filled out another one and then I thought I had found the other card; so thank god I gave her both. The first card she opened (card #1) was blank and that got a good laugh at my chemo brain tendencie:). Even the kids giggled at this silly old young looking lady!

After the party we got back on the bike and then headed for downtown near the Shark Tank for a party (we were invited via text message) for which we could not find while most of the roads and side streets were blocked off for a Teenage High School Musical? on ice?

We continued to find some more thrilling rides and that we did. The ride on the back of the bike was exhilarating as usual and we continued on to our local pub. We bumped into a neighbor who's wife just happened to be going on a bike ride by herself and of course I have this gorgeous work of art for a cruiser that is bruisin for a cruisin! I have been dying to take it out for a ride and of course all this rain has stopped me from taking it out for even a ride around the block.

Riding that new bike was also exhilarating! We rode through side streets and even a gorgeous park. I should have brought my good camera to capture more photos but this photo was taken with my iphone.

I did go crazy with the basket I must admit. I figured maybe I would have the desire to put Miss Blue Belle in that basket. Don't worry, it won't ever happen but we did figure out that taking this bike to the Farmer's Market would be a treat in fitting produce and stuff.

I did find my level of comfort on this bike and it was just like a cadillac. I'm not the total bike enthusiast; I just wanted my old lady bike and 3 gears is plenty for me. I usually don't go over 2nd gear most of the time and this bike actually hauled ass (yes I let it go!). Not that I would want to ride that fast but it's nice to know I do have that power!

We also rode over to the Campbell Community Center over to the Skateboard park and watched all kinds of kids riding the ramps and the mini half. I saw a girl that totally reminded me of myself when I was young. She was ripping it up on the mini half with all these young boys watching her. I had no idea all the little boys that I rode with had crushes on me until just a couple of weeks ago when my brother ran into a few as they reminisced about the good times we used to have skating. We had even built a few mini halfs at a few friends houses and I too ripped it up on the half quite a bit. Those men now; told my brother; "your sister was so damn good, she was the coolest chick and damn was she hot! I had the biggest crush on her" they would often admit. I could tell by seeing this young girl ripping it up that many of those pre-teen kids did the same here.

We had to continue over to the local pub to get me my garage door opener as my husband had accidentally brought over both. This guy walked out of the bar to check out my bike and he is a good friend of my husband's and now I finally got to meet him and this dog that has bat ears. He tends to get lots of dates with single women because of his cute dog and more power to him! He really wanted to let his dog cruise around in my basket but I was reluctant since it didn't have any padding and I'm still getting used to the bike. This dog loves to hang out on Bill's shoulders. A very mellow dog in that he doesn't bark a whole lot or freak out over other dogs.

We picked up the garage door opener and continued home since it was just starting to get dark. My stomach has been feeling a little better but I can still feel some soreness and until then I hope to be able to calm myself down and not worry about what is going on inside. My intestines have been making tons of noises and I hope to calm them down with easy food to digest and plenty of electrolytes, vitamins and minerals which can help fight off this evil cancer.

I went ahead and started on the power vitamins because yes, I did freak out and damn it I want this cancer to die and if I have a slim chance of doing that I will. The Ave vitamin pack has been working out pretty good. I usually take it a couple of hours after lunch and I have only been on it a total of 2 days but we will see what happens. Yes, the clinical trials have started!

My Brand New Beach Cruiser.....& Natural Therapies..

Well I finally picked up that gorgeous bike I had on layaway for so many, many months ago. Bless the owner's hearts and I sure hope this great bicycle shop survives this latest economic turn. Hyland Family Bikes located on 1515 Meridian Avenue in San Jose. They really do have the best bikes ever and pretty good prices too. I got a great deal on this bike and when I saw it; I absolutely fell in love with it. It has to be the most beautiful bike I have ever seen! The owners had called me because it had been such a long time since I had last made a payment on it and I justified getting it because I do have a hard earned bonus from work. Yes, we still get those and they are very much deserved.

I just couldn't afford to get it just then and I almost thought for sure I that I might not be alive long enough to ride it. Yes, I did get those thoughts because yes, I was scared to be quite honest plenty of times. Those were depressing times because I really love life and I don't wish to die sick. This disease is at times unpredictable and a downturn in my health can happen suddenly which is all the more reason to enjoy all the moments I am blessed with having. We all need to do that!)

Here are some pretty photos of my new bike in a video with Queen! Hope you enjoy!





Alternative Cancer Treatments

My vitamins have also arrived! Since the doctors are kind of out of ideas for now on my next form of chemo; I decided to take matters into my own hands and start my very own clinical trial. Don't worry! I won't start until a few days after my scan on March 6th. I need to know from my doctor if this will be safe and if my intestines are equipped to handle such a challenge.

I have read about each of these minerals and they do have some possibilities in having a cure and why not try them myself? Conventional medicine has nearly killed me several times and saved me some too so I don't really have too much to loose just trying right? I'm documenting it all here.

The first vitamin (actually it's a supplement) is called Ave' which is a Fermented Wheat Germ extract "Standardized to Methoxy Substituted Benzoquinones (Avemar Pulvis). It comes in a box with 30 packs which you mix with water or juice. Here is some info on this supplement:
http://www.anti-aging-meds.com/products/avemar.html

It does have some pretty scary warnings but none are as scary as the side effects of chemo I have used. I do know that I will be creating a schedule in which to take each of these medications. I plan to take this one about an hour before lunch and make sure that I won't have taken anything with vitamin C for several hours prior and after taking this.

Another supplement: Lactoferrin with Colostrum. Now I have taken Lactoferrin while I undergoing chemo the first time and it didn't do much back then, but I will try again. I also did drink a whole bottle of cow colostrum. OMG was that shit nasty!!!!! I know for a fact I have never put anything inside my mouth that incredibly nasty. That was more than likely the very worst! I will never forget when I tried to down it right before work and spit it all over myself and I had to change my clothes again! I did finish the bottle later that evening after smoking a bowel. Now it doesn't even phase me to suck my husband's dick after drinking that nasty stuff!). Sorry I have to be so honest and frank! do put up with with my sick humor! This is a supplement and as long as I don't have to burp up that nasty taste; I will be so good especially if it cure my cancer!)

Here are 2 articles I found on Lactoferrin:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/68000346/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=75220

Next Supplement:
Magic Mushrooms! No not those kind, these are cancer killing mushrooms. AHCC (Active Hexose Corelated compounds) ImmPower by American Biosciences.
It says: Maintains Peak Natural Killer Cell Function
Supports enhanced Cytokine Production
Promotes optimal T-cell & Macrophage Activity
Here is some supporting documentation on this supplement:
http://ahcc-nutrients.com/

http://www.ahccpublishedresearch.com/wwwroot-ahcc/default.htm

Supplement 4:
Doctor's Best Best Fucoidan (enhances immune system function. This is actually derived from brown algae.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19003051

http://www.thealternativecancertreatment.com/

Graviola: Now I have been taking this supplement for about a month and will continue taking this one until a few days prior to my scan and then continue it. I do notice that I have significantly more energy than before. I used to feel tired all the time. Here is some information on Graviola:

http://www.graviolaleaves.com/

http://cancertutor.com/Cancer/Graviola.html

http://www.hsibaltimore.com/articles/hsi_2001ds/hsi_200101_awb9.html

http://www.rain-tree.com/graviola.htm


With lots of prayers, hopes and dreams; I bet I can beat this disease. I will also be utilizing massage therapy, yoga, and some tai chi. I'm done with preservatives for now and will do my very best to live as healthy as possibly. "Bodies in Motion, stay in Motion" I live by that and I know I feel so much better when I do exercise. For now I will continue to live each day as if were the blessing it was intended to be!)

Wow a whole week, just like that!

One thing I have forgotten to mention in this blog is that I suffer from severe insomnia. Maybe its due to chemo brain, but it is something that frustrates me. I have for several years since my diagnosis. I don't think about it much through out the day because I am too busy enjoying all of my waking hours. Imagine that?

I usually don't sleep well with out any medication or at least lately I haven't. The medication I normally take is Benadryl around 4 days a week (starting about 2 months ago), sometimes skipping days and around once a week or twice, I will sometimes but rarely take an Ativan (Lorazepam). I had heard from other patients (ones who have since passed on), that they took around 2 per night. I was thinking I was taking too many until I had spoken with these other patients. With this drug being a narcotic, I really can't take any more than 2 per week. I fear constipation in my case and that is real.

I am a bit frightened of all the chemicals that I am prescribed so I try my best not to take too many and to keep it as natural as possible.

Sometime Cannabis works for my insomnia but not all the time. This could be due to the type that I normally get which is the Indica. Indicas are normally used for pain and the Sativas are more for relaxing and or sleep.

My doctor prescribed the Ativan drug to me for my insomnia and for unpleasant anal spasms. Yes, I have no shame in talking the truth about this disease. I just hope my talk of my experiences will make your life experiences much easier to deal with. I have talked with others who have it far worse than I do believe it or not. There is always someone out there in this world who may have it much worse.

Now if I don't take anything for sleep, I often just roll around for all hours of the night, going to the bathroom every half hour or so and it can be completely miserable. I really want my body to get adequate rest without any (chemical) help but it just doesn't occur naturally as often as I wish it could be.

When I was working, this became a big problem because sometimes I wouldn't get to bed until after 1am then awake at 5:30am. Being tired at work was often hard but I am pretty tough and I dealt with it. I hope to get a good sleep pattern by the time I get to back to work on December 1st. I will try my best! That's all you can do in life is do your best; right?

Today, I went to have a romantic lunch with my husband at the Olive Garden. Right before I picked him up and he was outside with a co-worker when all of a sudden a huge 6 point buck walked up to them and stood there for about 15 minutes just looking right at my husband. We both thought of that baby that died on Saturday when we had gone on our motorcycle ride. It was site to see I am sure! Hearing this story on our way to lunch made me love him all the more! I guess I just love him more and more each day!

At lunch I ate some salad which I hadn't had the pleasure of having for at least 2 months. My doctor feels I can't digest salad because its "too much roughage" and my system will have problems. It was worth it and we even splurged and had some Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Well, currently I am suffering from yet another abdominal blockage. The sounds from intestines have been increasing steadily with each passing hour. It must be tiring to read about all of these blockages! I must seemingly get them all the time! It seems one after another will happen and it's all due to trying to digest food. Well, I should know they are tiring to have.
I know, I need to eat better things but sometimes that excuse "You only live onces" happens.

So what else has happened this week? Anything interesting? Well yes and no.

On Monday, October 20th, I had taken Miss Blue Belle for her walk and had gone to get coffee and donuts for my husband. I had my hands full when walking in the door and Tonto was crying and inquiring as to why he didn't get to do, so with that prior to me slamming the door shut; he takes it upon himself to rush out the door as I am slamming it. I realize immediately that "OMG! I just slammed the door on Tonto!". He didn't seem bothered by it at all at the moment.

The rest of the day he just hid and I didn't see or hear from him until after 3pm. I was upstairs and saw him sitting on the edge of the closet. He didn't look very comfortable and when I walked over to pet him, he cried and showed me his swollen foot. I picked him up to see if he could walk on it. He cried and limped forward. He really seemed to be hurting, so I called the vet. The vet had no available appointments and it really seemed like Tonto was in serious pain. He was crying and wanting me to do something. The vet told me that emergency charges would be upwards of $200 or more and having to watch our money, I decided to try to take care of him myself.

I was scared that his bone was broken because he couldn't walk on his foot at all. I cried blaming myself for hurting this poor cat, so I took him into the bathroom and tried in the only way I knew how to get of his pain. I got my cat stoned with the vaporizer. I also got some frozen pees and massaged him and placed the peas on his swollen foot. All that effort to get him better seems to have worked.

He just fell asleep and slept the rest of the day and then the next morning, he was walking on his bad foot until I ignored him after he had already been fed. He just wanted more food and of course he is on a diet; I refused, so he started to limp again. I imagine he was just milking it for all it was worth. He knew I felt bad for slamming his foot in the door.

The swelling in his foot went down dramatically. and I knew I wouldn't have to bring him to the vet. It was obvious that his bone was not broken. I was thankful. He is much better and doesn't limp at all anymore and its almost as if his foot was never hurt. He doesn't rush to escape out the door anymore!

I also went to a local bicycle shop on Wednesday to go look at Beach Cruisers! I road a few bikes and finally settled on one. It was so comfy to ride and road just perfect; not bending over and falling off the bike because of it being too big and bulky or confusing gears. I told my husband that I went looking and found the bike I wanted.

He was excited that he finally found something sweet to get me. He was so excited as he looked all over the internet finding pretty ones and then calling me to look up websites with all kinds of pretty bikes. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had the store (Hyland Family Bikes) hold that one because he was just so excited about the opportunity to pick out a bike for me. This place has been around since 1963 and it is a family owned business. I have purchased a bike here before for a good friend of mine and have sworn to come back and get one for me. This should be interesting to see how it plays out. I did call my accountant and it is something we can write off as a business expense being that I do wish to own a green business and would utilize the bike for dropping off orders.