Chemo 

20 creative works found

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  Silent Night on the Chemo Ward
  by Ashley Ng

• Scarves, Wigs and Hats
  by Thomas Josiah Chappelle

  It is a battle, day to day, for life. / Oft, we care not to hear the fife; / Particularly under the “knife”. / Then it tests our vanity,

  Something of what my cousin faced undergoing recovery from cancer.

• And that's the "Breast" of the story!
  by courier

  OK – I’ve entered a new phase. Even though when I speak the words, “I have cancer,” it still seems to come out of someone else’s mouth wh…

  OK – I’ve entered a new phase. Even though when I speak the words, “I have cancer,” it still seems to come out of someone else’s mouth whose voice just happens to sound like mine. It is still very surreal and at times I literally forget what is going on inside my body. I know there’s a struggle there but sometimes the fight seems to be in my mind more than in my body. / Last week was a busy and rather tough week. On Monday I went in for a bone scan. I was told the scan wouldn’t take long so since it was scheduled for 12:30 I figured I would be through by 1:00 or 1:30 – NOT! What I wasn’t told is that at 12:30 I would be ushered back to “Nookyaler Medicine” for another injection of that “glow in the dark” stuff. Well, I didn’t really glow but evidently my bones did when the scan was done. The part that surprised me was that I had to wait for two hours after the injection before the scan could be done. That way the dye that was injected had time to “travel” to where ever the travel agent man sent it. I was able to leave the hospital during those two hours so I took a little side trip to Buffalo Gap where I could walk around, enjoy being out of doors, and shoot a few pictures, too. I reported back to the hospital right on time but still had to wait about another hour since they had now gotten behind – oh, well – stuff happens. Once on the scan table I had to hold perfectly still while the camera did it’s “thang.” That proved to be a challenge since I really needed to go to the bathroom by now and I was in agony before the 18 minutes were up. Once released I headed the old Suburban north. / Tuesday I worked like a dog to get the paper done in a timely manner. Thank God for my Crystal girl and also to those who sent in photos and articles for the paper. They made it much easier and Crystal had a ton of work done. I finished about 9:00 p.m. and headed home to watch “American Idol” eat all I could possibly devour since I had to fast after mindnight for a CT/PET Scan on Wednesday. / Wednesday was interesting. The people had scheduled the CT/PET Scan for 3:00 but the pre-admit people at the hospital had also scheduled me for 3:00 p.m. I called the pre-admit folks and told them the hospital had doubled scheduled me so they said, “No problem, PET Scans don’t last long so come over when you get thru there.” Not true! When I got to the PET Scans they again shot me with “Nookyalar Medicine” and, yes, I would have to wait. But only for one hour this time and I couldn’t leave the facility. Another call to Pre-Admit and they said, “No problem. Just come in at 9:00 in the morning.” (They are oblivious to the fact that I live 75 miles one-way from the hospital and gas now costs $3.59.) But the most interesting part of the day still lay ahead. Finally at 5:15 I made it into the PET Scan facility. The machine is in the back of a large 18-wheeler trailer. It is a traveling machine and even though it’s in the back of an 18-wheeler it is dressed out very nicely. The room is kept at 67 degrees because of the huge machine that you are about to lie down upon. There was a craddle for my head and a huge velcro tape (about two feet wide) that strapped down my legs. I had to hold my hands up over my head for twenty-four minutes and lay still. The trick to this was that a huge storm blew into the Abilene area right as I was getting into the machine and being strapped down. I could hear the thunder and feel the trailer shaking – then I heard pelting rain and hail striking the metal outsides of this contraption. I just knew that that whole trailer was about to be picked up and tossed by a tornado and there I was belted down inside this gigantic machine. All the while I was contemplating my get-away! Once out of the machine I made my way thru driving rain drops to my vehicle. There I called my husband and told him that I was not about to drive home in these storms – I’ve done that before and it’s not fun. So – off to greater Clyde, Texas I went to spend the night with my sister. Since I had to be in at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday morning it made better sense to stay there (15 minutes away rather than the 75 back home.) / Thursday morning I reported early for Pre-Op stuff and then went right upstairs for Day Surgery. Today I would have a mediport inserted just under my left shoulder blade. The surgery only took 30 minutes and since they didn’t have to put me on a ventilator the anesthesia used was much easier to recoup from than the previous Day Surgeries. The port was covered with bandages so I couldn’t see it until Saturday evening when I could remove them. I didn’t know exactly what to expect and I was nervous as I peeled one corner at a time. To my surprise you really can’t see the port at all – it’s completely under my skin. It does poke up just a little and you can feel it and of course, you can see the scar from the incision. I let all the grandkids feel the outside of the bandage so they would feel easier about it and since then there have been no questions. / Today, Monday the 28th, was my first chemo treatment. I was very apprehensive but the nurses are all so nice and they explained everything very, very well. I did tell them that I was nervous so the first thing they did was give me a little “relaxer.” They explained what chemo drugs I would be receiving when the time came and then it was time to take lab samples from the new port. Again, I was nervous. They injected a little local anesthetic to help with that and pretty soon they had an attachment on my port that served as the lines to the IV and also where blood would be drawn. After drawing the blood they washed the port out with saline solution and an antibiotic but I didn’t feel a thing. Next they administered anti-nausea drugs and a steroid right into the lines from the port. Once those had made their way to my waiting body here came the chemo. First the bright red Dytoxin was inserted into the tubes. In it’s early days it was called “Red Devil”. After that I received Adriamycin. The whole thing took about 5 1/2 hours but next time it won’t take as long – they went slow to see how I would react to the different drugs, etc. Well, folks – so far, so good! Right now the only side affects I have are “noodle legs” and I think I’m beginning to have a chemo-headache but I’ll just take some Tylenol and drift off to La-La land soon! In two weeks I’ll go back for labs so they can check on my blood counts – I’m going to try to be a good girl and eat fruits and veggies, take my Go-Chi juice, and also down a yogurt a day and swallow two Co-Q 10 tablets to help keep my counts good. / If all goes as expected I may have this thick, gray hair for about another two or three weeks then it will be gone for a while. I’m hoping it will come back in dark and curly – wouldn’t that be unique? / Today my sister came into the chemo room to tell me that she will be getting a mediport this week and will also start infusion chemo the same day. This is her second bout with cancer and while her tumor markers have subsided greatly they are on the increase again – darn those little cancer cells. She has been taking a strong pill form chemo for 14 months and now her body is probably adjusting to them and those smart little cancer cells have figured out how to grow again. She will now continue the pill form chemo but also take infusion chemo every weeks. I hope she doesn’t loose her hair for the 3rd time but she might. Actually, I was hoping to borrow all her cute hats so we may have to fight over them now. We are trying to talk our doctor into a 2-for-1 patient deal but I don’t think he’s going for it! / “I have cancer.” It still seems like a fictional statement and I’m still going to look on the bright side of the situation. You sure don’t have to look far to find someone worse off than you. So, my friends – remember to Smile First, Smile Often, and Smile Big. And that’s “the breast of the story.” (Girls – have you gotten those mammos yet?)

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  The Mattie Cancer Fund 1
  by Samitha Hess

  Another design to help raise money for my puppy’s chemotherapy. To make donations visit htp://www.samitha.org/mattiecancerfund.htm

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  The Mattie Cancer Fund 2
  by Samitha Hess

  Another design to help raise money for my puppy’s chemotherapy. To make donations visit htp://www.samitha.org/mattiecancerfund.htm

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  The Mattie Cancer Fund 1
  by Samitha Hess

  This is my 12 year old puppy Mattie. Isn’t she beautiful? She is my life, she is my muse. I’m downloading many photos of Mattie in hopes of raising money. She recently passed away after fighting liver cancer. She fought the horrible disease for 2 months with chemotherapy, but in the end it took her life. The last chemo session, she looked at me and softly said she was tired. So, I took her home and made a bed on the floor for the 2 of us and I held her through the night until she passed away in my arms the next morning. She is missed every second of every day, but she will live on forever in the hearts of everyone she met and new. So every t-shirt and piece of artwork I sell will go to paying off her final $10,000 of doctor bills. I love you my perfect angel. / To make donations visit htp://www.samitha.org/mattiecancerfund.htm

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  The Mattie Cancer Fund 2
  by Samitha Hess

  Another design to help raise money for my puppy’s chemotherapy. To make donations visit htp://www.samitha.org/mattiecancerfund.htm

• Mattie's Cancer Battle
  by Samitha Hess

  Last week, Mattie was given the worst news a cancer patient can get. They found many more tumors on her liver which means the chemo was n…

  Last week, Mattie was given the worst news a cancer patient can get. They found many more tumors on her liver which means the chemo was not at all helping. She and I decided to get a second opinion and start her on some holistic remedies. She was doing great, still chasing ducks & playing outside with grandpa. But yesterday she started bleeding from her mouth and had to rush her to the emergency clinic. There was so much blood and by the time we reached the clinic, she couldn’t walk. One or more of the tumors has mastisized and blood began to build up in her abdomen. A horrible vet walked in and unemotionally told me to murder my child because I was cruelly causing her extreme pain, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t murder my own child. I yelled at her to leave me with my child and give me another vet. My dad took off work and rushed to the clinic to help us, but when he saw her face, her perfect sweet kind face, he couldn’t do it either. She was still lifting her head and barking at the puppies in the other room, and wagging her tail, and man did her ears perk up when her grandpa came in. Her ears perked up and she quickly sat up for grandpa to pet her head. After that, a wonderful vet, Dr, Boon,came in & sat on the floor by Mattie and assured me that the other vet was wrong and would be reported to the owners. She said Mattie was not in any pain, just discomfort and pressure. So, she gave Mattie a pain patch and some meds to help with the bleeding and we took her home. I stayed with her all night. She tried to get up a few times but she just couldn’t go far without toppling over. So I just made a pallet beside her bed and held her hand all night and prayed for God to do whatever it took to make her comfortable and happy again. When we woke up this morning, she wasn’t looking well at all and I could feel it was almost time. I was going to go get some sub-q fluids to help her with dehydration but just after I got off the phone with the vet, she looked up at me, took her last 3 breaths and became still in my arms. It took less than a minute, but I was holding her head and telling her how perfect and brave she is and grandma was on the other telling her that it’s all ok. I held her for a long time in my arms and she looked just as beautiful and perfect as she’s always been. I’m so happy that she’s at peace now but I don’t know how I’m going to be able to live without her. I miss her so much.

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  Chemo Brain
  by Vee T

  Portrait of my husband who is undergoing chemotherapy. / He often says he has “Chemo Brain”.

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  Ribboned
  by courier

  Photo taken by my 14 year old son, Lee! My granddaughters Evan and Baileigh helped me commemorate breast cancer awareness month – my daughter also had a pink ribbon tatto on her neck. Tomorrow marks the beginning on my radiation treatments – to total 25. It won’t be too bad, I have a car-pool of wonderful friends helping me and, besides, chemo is finished so “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” (Check out the wonderful song of the same name by 3rd Day some time).

• A Day At Chemo
  by Prismcrow

  “Been nice sleeping with you.” There was just a hint of humor behind the deft sarcasm coming from the gaunt face of the pretty young wo…

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  its called chemo
  by RPGesus

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  2009 is my year to kick cancer's butt!
  by KatrinaArt

  In 2000, my ten year old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In total he has had 6 weeks of daily radiation, 28 months of chemo, 3 1/2 years of growth hormone therapy, and more MRI’s, tests, weekly blood counts, hair loss, surgeries, needle pokes, ophthalmology and oncology appointments, and blood transfusions than we can count. Last summer during a routine MRI it was discoverd his tumor was starting to grow again. It’s located on the optic chiasm, so the concern is that increased growth means more pressure on the optic nerves, and Jake is then at a greater risk for losing more of his vision. He is legally blind so saving what vision he has left is one of the most important things to us all. Last June he started chemo for a second time. The treatment plan was to end chemo in late fall, but his body has other plans. Due to allergic reactions to his chemotherapy drugs, his treatment ended several months early. All we could do were MRI’s every three months to check the growth. Only time would tell if Jake would benefit from the months of chemo he had. The next few scans showed the tumor was stable and had no new growth. For now we are holding it at bay! The good news is that Jake’s blood counts are back to normal, he’s full of energy, and normal 17 year old sarcasm. He is a straight A senior and is on his way to college next fall to study film. His dream is to become a movie director. If someone close to you has cancer, now is the time to take a stand and keep hope alive! Advocate for those you love and tell cancer we’re not gonna take it anymore! This is their year to conquer. Together we can kick cancer’s butt for good!

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  Mammographie - Screening
  by fuxart

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  Mammographie - Screening
  by fuxart

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  Howz this for a bubble :-(
  by flipteez

  Sorry to gross ya out but this is one of the ‘freebies’ Chemotherapy throws in / my feet were so swallon hubby almost had to hire a wheel chair until l clobbered him for the suggestion ! / still haven’t started radiation as the last chemo kinda knocked me out / So for me its litterally ‘one’ step atta time :-P

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  Friend
  by Anne Smyth

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  Family Crochet Project
  by VanillaDolphin

  Here is what 500 handmade crochet chemo caps look like. For the past 2 yrs my mom and I crochet chemo caps for various kid’s cancer centers. in 2008, we made 500 and sent them to St. Judes. It is a present my mom and I will continue to do every Christmas.

• I wish they took the two!!!
  by lettie1957

  Choices, choices choices – What am I to do? / Lumpectomy, Mastectomy or let them take the 2.

  breast cancer - / choices / mastectomy / lumpectomy

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  On Becoming Real
  by Prairiekittin

  For all those bald people going through chemo! A portion of the sale of this item goes to support cancer research.