My journey as a cancer patient begins
After six months of on-and-off pain in my lower back and abdominal area, my oncologist confirmed on 2/5/23 diagnosed that I had curable but aggressive cancer: Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. I began six cycles of chemotherapy on 2/14 and it would last 18 weeks. During that time, my body will be immunocompromised, and I will not be able to be at events. If everything goes well, I should be back in the swing of things by August. On 2/14 (Valentine's Day) I started Round One Chemotherapy which lasted 5-1/2 hours. I feel strong and healthy and I aim to beat this internal enemy to my good cells and achieve complete remission. In the meantime, my taste buds are fine and I have had no side effects. I continue to taste wines and write about them from home.
A healthy breakfast: organic strawberries, organic hard boiled eggs, organic cereal, organic flax seed, organic chia seeds, organic soy milk, and a little black coffee.
My medical team, family, and friends have been incredibly helpful as I work through this unexpected turn in my life. After living a full life at age 72, I did not see this coming and now I am beginning to focus 100% on recovery and achieving total remission. Aside from following the specifics from my doctors, I am utilizing as many resources as I can to make sure that give the treatments their just due.
This journey started with an innocent pain in my lower back thanks to how I awkwardly lifted our dog, Kaili to the car seat which sent me to the doctor for x-rays followed by an MRI that was followed by a CT scan which landed me in the oncologist office. The waiting for results was excruciating. The diagnosis, just a few weeks ago, was serious, but the prognosis looks good. Six days after the first infusion, I feel great: No side effects, I feel strong, and healthy (except for cancer), and my taste buds are as good as ever.
My journey includes a tight regimen of exercise, diet, and keeping my sanity. My prescribed medications are designed to kill cancer and protect my body from those same very medicines. I will be hiding from the world until August (except to buy groceries, continue outdoor exercises with Alice and Kaili, and breathe fresh air.
I will continue tasting and writing about wines during this time; I won’t be able to drink alcohol at this time, but tasting should be fine. I am betting that my palate will stay true. This is not a bad time for me, but it certainly has my undivided attention. Everything I do will be attached to becoming a cancer survivor. Thanks to Kaili, we may have caught this cancer in time.
