Tuesdaze

We met with the alternative medicine doctor this morning and received a Vit C infusion this afternoon at his office. He added to my list of supplements, and suggested daily doses of wheat grass taken orally, and taken another way every other day! Okay, we've all heard about these types of treatments, and I admit I am somewhat hesitant, and a little skeptical. BUT, there is another side of me that says if it gets to my liver and can provide a little bit of a help to such a hard to reach spot - maybe its worth trying. At least in the initial treatment phase. Anyone have any experience with this??? I mean my liver, which is already compromised, is going to have to deal with the chemo, so I figure I should give it all the help I can.

The Vit C injections I will get twice a week. While there has been some research on the effects of Vit C on cancer, what I have been told by my oncologist(s) is that it won't hurt to have the infusions, and there may be some benefits.

Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at 9:00 a.m. there will be a phone conference between the insurance company and my oncologist about my treatment. They asked me if I would like to participate. At first I thought I would, but in thinking more about it, I don't really want to hear the arguments against my receiving the drug. Although I know how serious this illness is, I really don't want to hear what the medical world has to say about outcomes. So, I'll leave it in the doctor's hands.

So, for the next four/five weeks, we will spend 4 hours a week at the alt med doc's office and probably 4-6 hours at the oncologist. We're really going to have to work hard at finding play time! AND I intend to play in between.

Lisa gave me a book called "Three Junes" which I just recently finished. A good read, a story about a family and their (inter)relationships. One of the side characters is dying of aids (ok so you say not a good topic - but it was not about that, and not a sad book). The person dying is a music critic and he has an extensive record collection. One evening his friend (main character) walks into his apartment to find the critic listening to his music. The critic decided that he was going to listen to all of the records in his collection. I believe once heard, he was smashing the records. Anyway, I had a thought tonight that Thierry and I should listen to all the cd's in his collection. Now, some of you have seen this collection in our library. He thinks there are about 800+, not counting my meager collection (about 100) and some mp3's he made of his tapes/records, etc. He insisted I do the picking, so I started with the top shelf, first two cd's. The first was Eighteenth-Century Dutch Chamber Music (very pleasant) and the other was the Singing Club by the Hilliard Ensemble - a selection of catches, glees and songs sung by male glee clubs. These songs of the 17th-18th centuries were sung in coffee-houses and taverns - the glee being a partsong for three or more solo voices. One of the songs is the music that Francis Scott Key used for the Star Spangled Banner (I didn't recognize it tho!).

I am not sure where this exercise is going or how long it will continue. There are some hurdles: there are boxed sets, multiple versions of the same compositions, and a lot of opera (not my favorite) including a lot of Wagner (little ick). But I am committed to sitting through it. One of Thierry's first reactions was "we could be listing to Bach for days". At the rate of two cd's a day - it could be more like weeks!

Well, time to end (whew! you say). I received a gift from my sister in the Canaries, via my other sister. It is a tiny statue of St. Agatha, the Patron of Breast Cancer Patients (6th Century). She was born in Sicily to a wealthy family - and lived a life devoted to God. She was beautiful and much sought after - but was devoted to a religious life. She refused the attentions of a judge - and in his anger, had her charged as a Christian. He said he would spare her imprisonment if she gave herself to him. She refused and was sent to a brothel - where she continued to reject advances and customers. She was subsequently imprisoned where she was tortured. Part of her torture was to have her breasts cut off. She died shortly thereafter in an earthquake.

So Jean, thank you for my little saint, thanks to all of you for your good wishes... today was an especially wonderful day!