Chemo Diet

Day 3 of my second chemo treatment and I feel pretty good, just a little tired. Woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. Had some nausea the day after the chemo, Friday, and yesterday felt worse after a night of waking up all night with nausea and the runs and getting very little sleep. Spent most of yesterday alternately trying to keep busy and sleeping. Pushed myself to a 2 mile walk in the morning and some food shopping in the afternoon, but whenever I sat down to read, fell fast asleep. Very frustrating. But today I feel back to normal, thanks at least in part to my diet. I have to mention the book my younger daughter, who is almost through her master's degree program in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. sent me, bless her heart. The book, written by four prominent MD's, deals with the prevention and treatment of cancer with natural medicine. It gets very technical in discussions of the disease and of chemo, way over my head, but is full of advice on dietary approaches to preventing cancer and minimizing the side effects of chemo. Much of it will be familiar to anyone who already tries to eat a healthy diet, and much of it is way too restrictive and/or exotic for me. Likewise the many supplements they recommend, specific to the type of drug one is receiving (there is a huge variety of chemo drugs, in a large number of categories, used to treat different cancers). But the three recommendations that stood out regardless of the treatment were to eats lots of fruits and vegetables, at least ten servings or more a day, eat very little red meat, and get a lot of protein through foods other than red meat - especially fish, and also chicken, turkey or other white meats, and supplements. In particular they recommend adding whey protein, which is a complete protein derived from dairy - I believe it is a byproduct of cheese-making. So we have been making up a weekly menu, with beef no more than twice a week, fish at least twice, and either chicken or meatless (pizza, anyone?) the rest of the week. And yesterday I went to Trader Joe's and bought some whey protein and added it to my favorite shake: blueberries, strawberries, a banana and some water. Threw in two scoops of vanilla-flavored whey protein mix and turned on the blender. Delicious. My kids call my shake "sludge" - they don't know what they're missing. As my mother used to say, there's that much more for me. As for fruits and vegetables, we have tried for a long time to make sure they are a good part of our diet. So maybe my diet has something to do with how well I've done so far with the chemo. Now if only they had a solution for hair loss (they don't, darn it). I also have to mention our friend Dianne, a nurse, who suggested ginger for my nausea. I bought some ginger tea and had some yesterday and today. I'm sure it helped too. Thanks, Dianne. Also, the book my daughter sent me is "How to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine", by Dr. Michael Murray, et al, published by Riverhead Books.

Went to the nearby Cumby's at 5:30 AM and picked up the Times and the Globe, our regular Sunday treat. It's a mild, sunny and so far windless day here. May be a good day for a walk by the water. Oh, and today is Super Bowl Sunday. I would love to see the Packers beat the Steelers, but if I were a betting man I would have to bet on the Steelers. Hope I'm wrong. Enjoy the game.