This past week, I met with a naturopath to discuss my overall health and ways to help me deal with not only cancer, but cancer treatment.
It was a very different experience from my usual medical encounters. The exam room was pleasant and non-clinical. There was a small teddy bear sitting on a table, a top hat with a stuffed rabbit on the doctor's desk, and instead of one of those leather and metal contraptions they make patients sit on, there was a daybed with a patchwork cover. The doctor offered me some dark chocolate and asked me a lot of questions about my life and activities, state of mind, and experiences with chemo side effects.
He told me to stick with the glutamine that I take to mitigate mouth sores and to be sure to take 15 grams a day. Because I often have trouble remembering to take five grams three times a day, he told me to just take the 15 grams all at once—perhaps mixing the glutamine powder with yogurt or apple sauce. That has sure made it easier to get my daily dose.
He also told me I need to take a B vitamin supplement, which will combat the neuropathy I am still dealing with and help with my energy level. So I've added that to my daily collection of nostrums.
I also learned that women with breast cancer who exercise every day reduce the chance of recurrence by 50%. Exercise has been a problem for me due to low energy levels and lack of good weather for walking. After my latest meeting with my oncologist, who also encouraged exercise, I had good intentions. But I then had two days of nausea and extreme fatigue and we had a lot if rainy weather, so I lost my resolve. But that 50% number is quite a motivator, so for the past few days I have made it a point to get out and walk for 30 minutes.
Today I discovered that the walk to Starbucks is 15 minutes each way.
One of the challenges I have is getting enough sleep. I have been having nightmares every night. There are two recurring themes: I am either desperately trying to escape someone who wants to kill me or I am trying to leave on a trip, but can't manage the logistics… can't get packed, miss my plane, ship leaves without me, etc.
In these dreams, I am overwhelmed with fear, anger, and frustration. It doesn't take a psychiatrist to figure out that the nightmares are related to my cancer.
I often wake up in the night with a pounding heart and a sense of bad chemicals flooding my body. Getting back to sleep is really difficult. The doctor suggested taking melatonin before bed and reemphasized exercise. Sure hope this works, because lack of sleep is a bad thing when dealing with cancer.
I'll be seeing the naturopath again in a few weeks and will be compiling more questions to ask about diet and nutrition. People suggest various things to me, but without someone looking at the overall picture, it is impossible to know how these things might interact.
By the way, I was surprised to learn that Medicare doesn't cover naturopathic medicine. That is a huge barrier for many people who could benefit greatly from supplementing traditional medicine with a more a holistic approach to healing.
There is a lot more to the body than tumors.
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