Chemo. Round 1. Day 7.

I woke up feeling like myself this morning. I went for a run. Then I walked down the beach. I went to church. I believe the worst of it for round 1 is behind me.

The only odd thing today was food aversion (my usual yogurt and banana) and food craving (eggs with jalapenos).

My next infusion is scheduled for April 6.

Chemo. Round 1. Day 6.

Highs

• Running at the beach this morning

• A sweet “chemo care kit” from Wallaby Windows of Coastal Carolina which just did our window installation in the living room

• Having the coconut kefir that I “like” (Does anyone actually like kefir?)

• Ginger candies from Rachel and lunch with her at Drift

Lows

Persistent low-grade nausea (and yes, I could take Zofran or another one of the three anti-nausea meds that were prescribed, but I would prefer to avoid them as they have their own side effects)

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Supplements

I have been asked repeatedly about what supplements I am taking, so I decided to share the list here as a reference for the future.

Let me start out by saying I am not endorsing any of these supplements, nor do I necessarily believe any of them are necessary to my well-being. What I do know is that I am doing so much better than anticipated; therefore, I will continue taking these supplements for the foreseeable future because I do not want to change anything about this routine which seems to be working for me.

Further, I do believe nutrition from real food is better than any supplement, so I am careful about what I eat daily. I’ve eliminated meat from my diet, and I have minimized dairy, sugar, processed food, and gluten, though I have not entirely eliminated them.

Also, I believe exercise has a significant impact on the way I feel day-by-day, and so I am committed to daily cardio and weight-bearing exercises.

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These are the supplements I currently take in the morning:

1. B Complex Plus with Choline from Seeking Health

2. Vitamin A 7,5000 mcg from Klaire Labs

3. Vitamin D 1,000IU from Thorne

4. Vitamin C Version 3.3 from Vibrant Health

5. Multi Collagen Plus from Dr. Emil Nutrition

6. Turmeric Curcumin 1500 mg from Bio Schwartz

These are the supplements I currently take in the evening, along with my medication:

1. Melatonin-SR from Pure Encapsulations

2. Magnesium (glycinate) from Pure Encapsulations

3. Letrozole 2.5 mg

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Above and beyond all this, I truly believe Proverbs 17:22:

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

And ultimately, that’s the game plan - to keep trusting the Lord and finding joy on this journey day-by-day.

Functional Medicine

According to The Institute for Functional Medicine,

Functional medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Each symptom or differential diagnosis may be one of many contributing to an individual’s illness.

For example:

One of the physicians who treated me this spring and affirmed my going on Letrozole also urged me to look into functional medicine to broaden my perspective on health and healing. Therefore, I have established care with a local practitioner.

Thus far, I have had one virtual appointment, one in-person appointment, blood draws that yielded 6 pages of results, and a recommendation to begin taking a number of supplements.

And honestly, at this point, I am not sure what my opinion is on it all.

My blood work was largely “unimpressive.” No one thing jumps out as being problematic. In fact, of the 84 results given, only 4 were outside of the reference interval -and only marginally so, at that.

The practitioner recommended adding some supplements to those I was already taking, so now my daily intake includes vitamins C, A, and a B complex, magnesium, melatonin, turmeric, and collagen with biotin, plus a-Drenal.

The bottom line is this. I do not expect my functional care practitioner to have the panacea, but at this point I feel like what she’s recommending can’t hurt, so I am willing to combine her recommendations with traditional treatment and a healthy lifestyle that includes physical activity and conscious eating.