[2021-03-01] Tools and techniques
I chatted with a friend yesterday who shared that she took inspiration from one of my posts to help another friend who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. My friend remembered my post about my funny little pillow, a gift from a woman who had supported her own daughter when she had had cancer, and found a similar one online. Our conversation reminded me of the many things I've learned in dealing with ovarian cancer and am observing now in recovery.
As I continue to recuperate from chemotherapy and adjust to my new tumour-suppressing medication, I am discovering or rediscovering tools and techniques that are helping me feel better.
For example, I recently remembered that taking medications on an empty stomach doesn't agree with me. When I first started taking my new meds, I often took them in the morning before eating anything. The instructions said that the medication could be taken with or without food, which I interpreted to mean that the side effects would be the same in both cases. However, after experiencing a fair amount of nausea when taking the medicine before breakfast, I remembered my post on pill nausea and decided to switch to taking my meds after breakfast. That made a huge difference.
To ensure that I take my medication on time, I'm relying on the MyTherapy app. It's so easy to forget to take a drug or to wonder whether I took it. MyTherapy does the work for me, reminding me every five minutes until I take the meds and mark the task as complete in the app, and serving as a record of the meds I've consumed.
Lately, I've been experiencing some pain in my feet, which may be related to chemotherapy. Fortunately, I don't feel discomfort when I go for a walk wearing boots. So, today, I switched from slippers to running shoes in the house, to give my feet more support—a tip I picked up from my husband.
I've also had tremendous relief from various aches and pains with the use of a heating pad. I prefer an electric heating pad to a hot water bottle or hot compress, both of which lose their heat quickly. But a large heating pad—also a gift from a friend—has been indispensable in my recovery. As I wrote this post, I had the heating pad pressed against my belly, which helped alleviate minor aches and nausea.
Getting lots of sleep is so important for my rehabilitation. As I've explained before, I use a sleep mask with bluetooth headphones built into it so that I can listen to stories at night. Nothing has been more effective at helping me nod off or return to slumber than the headphone-enabled sleep mask. My current favourite listen is The Classic Tales Podcast on Spotify.
Drinking lots of fluids was recommended when on chemotherapy and is similarly recommended while on my new medication. One of my most successful tricks for consuming a lot of water is to drink a full glass with medication and every time I go to the washroom. I make note of my consumption of liquids in the Plant Nanny app and Fitbit, as logging my progress gives me incentive to drink more. Of course, all that water means that I'm now getting up twice a night to go to the bathroom, but my stories always put me back to sleep.
For newcomers to my blog or regular readers trying to find a tool or link that I included in a post, the Jenesis Resources page is a great place to start. The page consolidates previously shared links to tools, music, books, poems, cancer-related organizations and recipes.
The friend to whom I spoke yesterday also told me that she sent her friend a link to my blog. She wanted me to know that my writing is helping people well beyond those I know or have connected with through my writing. Sharing information with readers, particularly other ovarian cancer patients, has been a principal motivation in writing this blog. My thanks to everyone who has shared Jenesis.
