BUENOS DÍAS and a little reminder to the folk who like me are undergoing #chemo or #radiation for #cancer : don't sleep on banana smoothies.
i use goat milk because it’s less allergenic and still has a nice amount of protein, calcium and fats. if you are vegan, oatmilk with some added pea protein should be good too.
i like to go the Puerto Rican way and sprinkle mine with a bit of cinnamon. i’ve also make with grated ginger and a bit of turmeric to settle my chemo tumny.
so, today was my first day of #radiation therapy (for the new, breast #cancer). was not prepared for the itchiness and sweat of a radioactive boob.
had to get a tub of Aquaphor. apparently, should've been using that all throughout #chemo & my crocodile skin as well.
been moisturizing with almond oil like my life depends on it, but my skin seems to absorb this vaseliney concoction like it were the last drop of water in the desert.
🧵 (1/2) TODAY IS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF MY MOTHER'S DEATH.
She was told she had "Stage 3 malignant #cancer" and given #Chemo. Her doctor didn't do ANY follow-up between treatments, which resulted in severe pneumonia and being rushed to the hospital.
The hospital screwed up, resulting in a collapsed lung after only 1 week.
3 days after that, she went into Cardiac Arrest. The collapsed lung hindered #CPR and left her a vegetable for 9 months.
🧵 (2/2) I tried to sue the hospital, but a 2004 #Texas#TortReform law (pushed by Gov Rick Perry and approved by TxSC Justice #GregAbbott) made it impossible.
When she passed away 9 months later, I ordered an autopsy.
blood pressure was super-high at the MDs today. been happening on & off since i got COVID19 and it's gotten worse with #chemo.
but i've always had ridiculously low BP. so why?
since am immunocompromised, my allergies are worse. chemo left me with no lashes, so my eyes are itchy. have to take an antihistamine every night to sleep properly.
well, they dehydrate you. today i've been thirsty all day. hence, my high BP 😡
IN OTHER NEWS
washed what's left of my hair and no hairs ended up in my hands. i guess am on my way to recovering from #chemo. can't wait to have my eyebrows back. also, #fuckCancer
i had 3 anaphylactic reactions, at the beginning of #chemo (MD had to change the infusion) and they did a number on my stomach and on what i could eat: eggs, cow milk, wheat, unfermented soy (aka edamame, soy milk and flour; tofu and other fermented soy products are ok).
i think i have eaten shakshouka once and this one looks yummy; but am so afraid of eating anything that made me sick during chemo.
IN OTHER NEWS
yesterday was the first thursday in months that i had no #chemo and i today feel like a ran a marathon. went to bed earlyish and have spent most of the day shlumpped. #radiation starts soon but am reckoning how traumatic my #cancer therapy has been so far. my body knows it and it’s like i can finally relax.
at some point we have to talk about how traumatic health care can be ―even if you have the some of the best doctors taking care of you.
am half bald, lost most of my eyebrows, have no eyelashes left, am about 40 lbs overweight and paler than death but i did it, AM DONE WITH #CHEMO AND I GOT TO RING THAT FUCKING BELL!!!
next up: radiation and a year of immunotherapy. but for now am greatful. it could have been worse after landing in the emergency room TWICE, once for #COVID19, the other for a blood clot that also had me a week in the hospital.
i rang that bell with my sons, and i got to say with my whole chest, #fuckCancer.
the one thing that has kept me going these past few #chemo weeks, has been banana smoothies i was making with a vegan pea protein shake they gave me at the hospital (during my last hospitalization for a blood clot).
ran out of those little shakes, so am making them with Oat milk. they really make my day! #chemo has done a number on my stomach & appetite but the smoothies are like a little blanket of love for my tummy.
since it's my first #Galentine as a cancer patient, am living La Vida Loca eating vinegar potato chips and bananas. you know, to get those electrolytes stoked for tomorrow's next-to-last day of #chemo. also, #fuckCancer 🧐 👍🏾 :underheart:
IN OTHER NEWS #chemo was bound to do a number on my immune system but then came #COVID19 and it's been a double doozie on my body.
but here's some anecdata: THING1 got me some lactose free choco milk cuz I thought it would help with my dwindling appetite.
nope.
started wheezing and coughing within minutes. even as "lactose free" something in the milk (and i know it's not the chocolate) triggered a response. so i backed off for a couple of days. guess what happened?
even asked the guys if they noticed i wasn't using the cane to walk indoors. they did.
what happened during those days was that i switched to grazing from a muffin tray with almonds, olives, grapes and whatever i could that was not milk based but for a bit of nicely aged Manchego (which at that point is more like a young Parmeggianno).
so guess what i did today? had some bagel with salmon cream cheese. am now rocking a headache, feeling fatigued, woozy and almost lost my balance.
am afrocarib, so i know my cow-dairy issues (which, btw, i don't have with goat milk products like Manchego cheese).
but am flabbergasted by how fast it triggers my asthma and all the related symptoms; which also are symptoms of #LongCOVID but not necessarily of #chemo.
so here's what i wonder: could LC19 on some people be the consequence of allergic reactions they don't know they have?
we need work done on the connection of allergies and COVID.
LMAO i just caught myself writing "good morn'" but it's almost 3pm. that's what happens after 3 days of forcing myself to sleep to heal from a hell of week of surgery and #chemo.
MLK was a socialist. he knew redistribution, not hoarding of wealth ends poverty.
MLK knew fascism, racism & white supremacy are one and the same. all across his writing and speeches you can trace their continuum as forms of violence that affect all peoples; not just African Americans.
after his house was burnt, MLK wanted to shoot the people who did it (they taunted him for weeks). he gave his shotguns to his pals to save his own soul, not because he loved thy racist neighbor.
PS:
next time y'all hear a jackass selling a GUARANTEED/UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME as their own idea, just slap them them in the mouth and dare to say that again without giving Martin Luther King Jr his rightful flowers & credit for working out that idea with his economics advisors in his book, "Where Do We Go From Here?".
btw, do y'all know how much, back in 1968, it would have cost to end poverty in this country with an GBI/UBI?