Jan Curran Events

Chemo tip on NOT losing hair..

When I did chemo, each year, I'd begin with some hair and within two weeks after the first treatment, hair was shedding all over the place and I'd end up getting my head shaved to stop the mess.

One of the men who lives here in this " active adult living" complex is going through extensive chemotherapy now. In fact, he is doing the combo of Taxol/Carbo, the same mix I had and from what I remember it is the Carbo that makes your hair fall out.

He is doing his treatment at a Vet's hospital in New Mexico ( flies there every 20 days) and on the first treatment day he had a German nurse who told him that making a helmet of ice and covering his entire head would stop his hair from falling out.

He was willing to give it a try even though he says he was so cold from all that ice on his head that his teeth were chattering!

The bad news is he was cold and said he felt like an idiot sitting in the infusion center with a bag of ice covering his head, BUT the good news is he has had two or three treatments already and not even one hair has fallen out.

So, readers, if you are in chemo and still have some hair, give this ice bag old nurse tale a try. It might work for you, too.

My hair? Gosh, I have been wearing a wig since Dec. of '03, had a few months each time after chemo ended when I would get hair and then, bam, cancer would be back and I'd be back in therapy and lose what hair I had. This is the first time it did not grow back ASAP and thick.

It has been 8 months since my chemo, 6 months since radiation and I am still needing to don the wig. I do have some hair - thin, had no color and mostly the hair is on the bottom of my head...  nice crop of hair on the back of my head! Maybe I should let it really grow and do a comb-over like some bald headed men we see.

I went and had what hair I had colored. It really was a no-color, color. A drab black.

Now it matches my wig, is a highlighted blondish-red with very dark roots coming in. Finally it is starting to grow on the top, but think I am facing months before I can go out without the wig.

My friend here , the one going through chemo, is having a problem eating and his problem is one I had -- a metal taste in the mouth all the time. I shared with him, and will share with you, how I got around that. I drank Propel flavored with lime, or lemon... rinsed my mouth with warm salt water before a meal, too. Any flavored water will help. Regular old bottled water didn't do anything but make me gag.

Remember to take ginger capsules. You can get them in most supermarkets that have a vitamin center or go to any drug store. You can take three at a time, and they are proven to stop nausea.

Drinking the flavored water didn't totally take away that metal taste but it helped and he says it is helping him. Most food is a turn-off and I remember that, too , but he is forcing himself, as I did and you must, to get something down every day even if only a hearty soup, or a concoction of Ensure mixed with fresh fruit and ice cream you put in the blender.

I also shared another tip I got from a doctor. Is there a Trader Joe near you? They sell a melt under your tongue high potency vitamin B. You can take it twice a day. No worry about trying to swallow it and I'm not sure, but I think it did help with energy.

Be sure to send me your " there", the something you did that was a big chance. Maybe it can be taking the chance to put ice on your head! I've gotten some interesting ones, and they prove to me that people are willing to stick their own neck out on things that just might make a difference in their life or the lives of others.

Take care, treat yourself with kindness, smile at others, visit with others -- it all helps in taking your mind off any pains or discomfort you have.

Until next time...

Jan

Oh, what a beautiful morning...

It's another picture postcard perfect day in Ventura -- blue skies, slight breeze, that smell of the ocean....

Today is Monday, November 13.

Nothing vital on my date book -- been ages since something vital was and in a way that is nice, means I can rest, or read or run errands an none of that " gotta rush to..." feeling.

Yeah, of course I miss the social life in the desert and my being tired is keeping me from a lovely luncheon there on Wednesday -- but unless I had a driver, I just couldn't make that trip. Makes me feel a bit blue. I had hoped by now to have enough energy for things like that --and besides that I miss my son Tod ( todgoldberg.com) and it would have given me a chance to see him.

Been sleeping long hours and I mean LONG -- 10 hours each night, sometimes more.. and then still get tired during the day. Anyone out there coming out of chemo and radiation facing that same fatigue I am? How are you handling it?

Yes, I am taking Vit. B and eating.

Speaking of eating, I drove, with a friend , to Santa Barbara last week for a luncheon. It was only about a 30 minute drive and beautiful. Is there anyplace prettier than Santa Barbara on a sunny day -- well, maybe Seattle -- but Santa Barbara looked darn good to me!

I went in for a luncheon for former staffers and students at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. I was on staff for 27 years, hard to believe, but true. I hadn't been to one of their lunches in about 5 years , nor had I been in Santa Barbara since then. Last time it was with fiance in tow -- the one who went out on me during chemo ,and there in ended our relationship but that is old history and he and I are friends now so don't take that as some mean bitter comment -- take it as something that made me feel sad as I approached the Fess Parker resort for the gathering.

It was lovely to see everyone -- must be something in the water in Santa Barbara -- no one seemed to age!

Here I am with Barnaby Conrad. He was the conference founder and director all those years and is the unofficial director of these weekly author luncheons.

He has a new book out.  I don't think I have the correct title, but it is something like " Famous scenes from Famous books..." but just Google him and you'll get it. Should be at your favorite book store now.

Which reminds me, my son Lee ( leegoldberg.com)  has a new

" Diagnosis Murder" book out, "The Double Life".  It is  in book stores now, or order from an on-line seller.

My little contest on a chance you took, a there you gave yourself continues.  Deadline is Nov. 20 so send me your email with something you did that was a big chance and turned out well.

Read the last post to get more details.

The coffee has perked and time for me to get perking, too.

Jan

"Twas the day after Halloween..

I've got my coffee and a croissant and a few minutes here , so will type you a few words..

When I was doing my three years of chemotherapy, and then the months of radiation, people would say to me I was a hero and I would say I was not.  There is nothing hero like, in my view, about going through those horrors -- it is more a THERE you give yourself, a thing you must do.

Years ago I met author Eudora Welty and we talked about writing. At that time I hadn't published anything, was too chicken to even send out anything with my name on it. ( I was published, but I used my husband's name which is another story for another time.)

Anyway ,back to Eudora.. she told me this:

" Writing is the THERE you give yourself. You must take the chance."

I typed up her words and taped them to the wall above my typewriter and looked at them each day when I was writing -- and from then on , all the years of my professional writing career, her words were there for me.

Using her words can be applied to anything.  A diet can be the THERE you give yourself, filing for divorce, cleaning the garage, going to AA, doing something that always had you fearful.

There are a zillion things.

Does having dinner guests make you nervous? My cousin Dave does a huge party every Halloween, admits he is a nervous host, yet it is the THERE he gives himself, as he  continues to host this annual party.

My friend Diane always wanted to spend time in England. She went, rented an apartment in London, stayed 6 months - toured, had a fabulous time. It was a THERE she gave herself.  She took a chance on being alone in another country and she created memories now that will always make her smile.

Another friend of mine finally walked away from an abusive relationship. They'd been together nearly 30 years, most of it times when he felt the desire to beat her to a pulp. She kept hanging in, thinking tomorrow would get better but tomorrow was never the day after that day.. and then one day she gave her self the THERE, the chance she had to take, the walk  away and leave everything behind, start a new life.

There are many ways we do a THERE....start a new life - -we have a child, we buy a home, we move to another city, we change jobs -- we fight diseases, we search out biological parents. We say " no", instead of  "Yes" or we say " yes" instead of " no."

Tell me your THERE.

I will print them out, toss your names into a Tupperware bowl, draw a name out and the winner will get a copy of my book, " The Statue of Liberty Is Cracking Up" - one of the biggest THERE I ever did, taking a chance on writing a book.

If you already have my  book, include that info in your comments to me and you'll get a copy of a book, a first edition,  by someone else  -- signed ,too.

Hey,  let's make this fun. My daughters just ran a contest on their blog and asked the entries to also include what they had for lunch that day. It made for such a fun read.

How about if you include what you had for lunch the day you read this, even if it was a Zofran and a cup of tea cuz you are nauseated from chemo?

I'll print the comments on here so you can read the thing others consider a big THERE in their life. You don't have to give your last name,.

Deadline?

How about if you take the chance and write to me by November 20th?

Then we will do another contest.

Look, your THERE can even be taking the chance on winning this silly contest.

My THERE today was to create a contest on my blog.

Take care.

Jan