jenny's belly

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Another Good Day

Despite the fact we had a nor'easter today I had another "good day". No nausea, no diarrhea, no acid reflux, no cramping, and I only threw up twice. I feel normal today. NORMAL! Yesterday was crap, but that's water under the bridge.

Tomorrow is a crazy day.

I have one important appointment at Dana Farber at 8:45am (oncologist) and an appointment at Brigham & Women's at 4:30pm (gastroenterologist). Oh yeah.

I scheduled an infusion of fluids at 2:00 just to help fill the day. Who KNOWS what my mom and I are going to do from 9am-2pm. If I feel good enough maybe we'll head to the Prudential Center. If I look decent enough I may even stop off at work. :)

I learned today from my radiation oncologist's resident (follow that?) that the November 3 appointment is a run-through which they're going to video-tape. I have lots of experience with cable access and was a broadcast journalism major in college so I'll have to try not to take over the production. "Okay, see this shadow? You need a scrim here. And did you white-balance?"

Apparently they will perform the procedure and do everything *except* radiate me. They'll get everything lined up and record settings, etc etc. It's mostly to make sure everything is checked, double-checked, triple-checked... My radiation actually starts on Monday, November 7.

I just read that salt may contribute to heartburn. Doctors were surprised to learn salt was a problem and other foods (such as tea) really aren't bad after all. I could have told them about the tea--that helps heartburn.

And I found this:

Aspiration (the reflux of liquid into the lungs, throat and voice box) is more likely to occur at night because that is when the processes (mechanisms) that protect against reflux are not active and the coughing reflex that protects the lungs also is not active.

So THAT is why I would wake up with reflux!!! That's exactly what was happening to me.