Things We Didn't Know, Part II

We've been working on our counter-attack.

The one we're mounting against the side effects of chemotherapy.

Maybe it's more of a defense system.

There are a lot of things that medicine can do now to treat the side effects of chemotherapy and make life more bearable for patients. Our thought, though, is that every medicine he puts in his body comes with some baggage. A side effect of its own.

We want to avoid extra baggage for Kevin as much as possible. He's got enough of a load already with this whole thing. So we are hoping to minimize the impact of side effects as much as we can before resorting to more medication.

Strangely there have been no guidelines at all from the oncology clinic. Not so strange, I guess, given what we've observed about communication there.

So we've been reading on our own and talking to our dietician friend. She participated in a study with chemotherapy patients so she's been an incredible resource about diet and supplements.

Kevin has begun taking (we cleared this through his oncologist) a supplement called glutamine which has shown some indication of helping against the nerve damage from one of his chemotherapy drugs. There are also some indications that it helps against developing mouth sores. It's a powder he mixes with water and chugs down 3 times a day. The nice thing about glutamine is that it comes with no baggage of its own. No side effects that it causes although it's a thick grainy mixture which Kevin finds he has to chug down all at once in order to be able to tolerate it.

This chemotherapy is known for causing mouth sores. I sent Kevin off to his dentist soon after he was diagnosed. The dentist provided toothpaste, toothbrush and mouth rinse specifically geared to help protect his mouth against these sores.

Kev is drinking a lot of water and will be especially careful to drink 3 to 4 liters a day during the week of chemotherapy. This will help to flush the drugs through his system faster; minimizing some of the cell damage side effects and possible damage to his kidneys.

We're following a neutropenic diet which will help him avoid things that might cause him to become sick as his immune system becomes weaker from chemotherapy. Essentially he eats no uncooked foods, no dried fruits, no yogurt, certain cheeses are out, eggs have to be fully cooked...things which are more likely than other foods to harbor bacteria. We'll be avoiding buffet restaurants and generally being more careful about how his food is handled.

We've stocked up on individual size containers of applesauce and juices and fruit. These can be consumed totally so nothing sits in the refrigerator; plus the Oxaliplatin also causes a cold sensitivity so cold foods will be off the list at some point. Kevin will try to eat a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon to help minimize the nausea that might be worse on an empty stomach.

Pretty simple things really. And they make sense once you think about how chemotherapy works in the body. I'm thankful that we've had the reference tools (love the internet) and Sue the dietician to help give Kevin this advantage. I feel like we've already got an edge in keeping him healthy.