Cancer patients face so many battles as they go through treatment.
There’s chemo brain and neuropathy and nausea to name some of the common problems.
One of the best parts of improving cancer care over the last few years is that cancer medicine has recognized that it’s just not about the medicine: it’s about the side effects of the medicine that need to be treated too. And to take that a step further, oncologists and oncology nurses have come around to understanding that it’s not always another medicine, that can help a patient get over a serious side effect.
I remember when Leroy was going through chemo, he never got really sick from the cocktail, but he did feel like he had a bad case of the flu a few days following treatment. I was driving to work one morning, and a radio show host was talking to an oncology nurse about cancer care. Coincidence or not, she mentioned how in her infusion room, she had packages of spearmint gum everywhere because it helped her patients fight off the nausea. BINGO! I called Leroy to tell him and from that day forward, we had packs of gum in the car, in the kitchen, all over the house. It worked. Simple but effective…what else could you ask for?
I called a friend to check on his wife who has gone through some very difficult breast cancer treatment. She’s been N-E-D for a while and there’s nothing better than that, but she’s had some long, lingering late effects from her meds.
Her doctors have tried alternative medications, thinking she just can’t tolerate the standard care but nothing seems to be working.
On a suggestion, she’s about to try something that sounds so far-fetched, it makes spearmint gum sound scientific: SOAP
It seems according to some cancer patients and others who suffer from serious leg cramps brought on from medications, a bar of “Ivory” soap at the foot of the bed stops the leg cramps. Is there a medical explanation for this? Not to my knowledge.
I “Googled” it and sure enough, it’s there.
So, her husband is planning on stopping by the drug store on the way home tonight to pick-up some soap.
I am so full of hope that this works for her. I know we need the big time cancer meds to fight this beast, but how great is it to know that a piece of gum or a bar of soap can give cancer pause?
January 21, 2015 @ 8:10 pm
Ned… I’m sorry, let the rage flow! We all understand!
January 21, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Ned..I’m so sorry about your sister but there is some peace in knowing she is at peace with her situation. I lost my sister three years ago to the beast and she gave me great comfort with her bravery.
January 21, 2015 @ 12:01 am
The doctors all agree-my sister would not benefit from chemo or radiation.Surgery is out of the question. She is coming home tomorrow.Her final request is to rest in the foothills of home.To return to Eastern Kentucky and to rest on the hill in the shadow of the tree that shades the resting place of my parents. A few days ago,on the northern side of the eternal river,I visited my wife-her name beside mine etched on the cold granite..She too, was a victim of the great dread.I fantasized about a clean,white soap that could clean the ravaged flesh,but in the end,the only comfort glows out of glimpses (past and present) of a sweet special courage-embers of peace,foreign to me,but comforting my rage.
January 21, 2015 @ 8:48 am
So sorry to read this Ned. I believe that there is a peace that will be with her as she makes this journey to the family plot. Saying good-bye for now is so difficult but this too shall bring you peace.
PS…it is Ok to rage at the unfairness of it all. It is cathartic and cleanses the soul so we can carry on. I know…….
January 20, 2015 @ 9:40 pm
Butterscotch hard candy at the beginning and at the end of each infusion, helped keep the metallic taste out of my mouth.
A marvelous pill twice a day kept the nausea away. Naturally the insurance company never wanted to pay for them, but that is another story.
Quinine pills kept the legs cramps for the most part tolerable.