2.6.11

AYNSLEY:
More of the same. The pain in Mom's throat isn't in her throat anymore, it's traveled down her esophagus and seems to bother her at the top of her stomach. Her lack of appetite today wasn't due to nausea, it was due to extreme discomfort when swallowing. She describes it as being a result of taking all her pills, but I suspect that chemo may be playing a role, also.

It is so hard to watch.

A dear friend sent us an email this weekend, saying something about enduring the side effects of chemo by remembering that this is very strong medicine. So I'm choosing to focus on the hope that as harsh as the chemo is being to Mom's body, it's being harsher to the cancer. That this weakness, this discomfort, the constant sleeping and inability to eat are temporary and that the chemo will stop soon.

Tomorrow Dad will ask the oncologist if there's anything we can do about the throat/stomach pain. It seems that more and more medications are presented, which I understand, but it's hard for Mom to take the pills she has now; I hate to have to add. Though if they help in any significant way, we do it. More good news about the pain not being truly in her throat is that it's probably not an infection or a cold.

On a totally personal, unrelated note, I have gotten a lot of feedback about being the "kale queen." I've even had some people tell me they've tried kale for the first time since reading the blog. I know that today is arguably the national holiday of junk food, but maybe waking up tomorrow and throwing away the empty chip bags and recycling beer bottles will inspire you to try something green. A favorite way to eat kale, a la Claudia:
wash and dry the kale, separating the leaves from the stems. Sprinkle a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper on the leaves, put on a cookie or baking sheet and bake at 350 until the leaves get a bit brown on the edges, about ten minutes. Voila: kale chips!