Living With Breast Cancer

  Living with breast cancer isn't the most enjoyable experience for my step mother. She is now extremely sore, and driving is difficult for her as any bump shoots pain through her body. She found the amount of people who approached her laughable. On entering her church, a woman hugged her and said "You are such a brave person, God is with you". After recieving multiple similar greetings, she wondered how the world would be if we treated each other as if everyone had cancer.

Lightening the Mood & Update

  All the researching cancer is messing with my head, making me realize how easily we could lose my step mom. The doctors have also decided that instead of 8 weeks of chemo and then surgery, it will be 20 weeks of chemo, 3 week break, surgery, then radiation. The next year will be a struggle.

  To lighten the mood of this now gloomy blog, I have a story about how patient my father has been these past few weeks.

  My dad and step mother were headed towards the hospital to get a chemo port inserted. Unfortunatly for them, google maps is the worst map in history. Within 3 miles of the hospital, google maps tells my father that the destination was directly next to him... in a forest. Upon entering, they find a religious university with a two mile long roundabout, which they get lost in twice. They finally found a way out and found their way to the hospital, where they spend 20 minutes stuck behind the slowest driver in existence. The driver takes the spot they wanted, requiring my dad to drop off my step mom and spend another 20 minutes behind the second slowest driver. They finally got inside, only to find that the appointment was not that day. Needless to say, my father was angry at himself.

Chemo Symptoms to watch for

Bloating and diarrhea are symptoms of chemo, but are also symptoms of typhlitis, a life threatening infection. Check for abdominal pain or tenderness if bloating and diarrhea are spotted. If it is believed to be typhlitis, go to the hospital immediatly, as the infection requires immediate care. Keeping away from others who are sick will not protect the patient, as typhlitis comes from bacteria in the body.

Another symptom to watch closely is weakness, as it can also be tumor lysis syndrome. If the patient is suffering from weakness, watch for seizures or parkinson-like movement. Tumor lysis syndrome comes from the rapid breakdown of the tumor, and is fatal.

Hypothermia Cap

The hypothermia cap is a tool that can suppress the hair loss caused by chemotherapy. The cap works by cooling the scalp, decreasing the size of the veins in the head. The smaller veins can prevent the hair loss causing toxins to ever even reach the hair follicles. The cap has a 73% chance to prevent hair loss.

Project Shift

The rest of the school-year, this blog will not be used for Technical Drawings. I am shifting the project to work hand-in-hand with the "family requirements" in class

My step-mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a while back, and my family is stressed about this. My father has no clue what to look for or how to help her through this, especially during her chemo. One symptom he is worried about is hair loss, which I found a solution for and spoke to them about it (I will post the solution in the next post).

The doctors say "cure", so hopefully she will be alright.

From now to the end of the school-year, I will be researching common cancer and chemo symptoms that can be prevented, and symptoms that need to be watched for.

Entry # 22

I have finally learned how to make a cone, using the "follow me' tool (same technique as the sphere).  Making this was even more glitchy than the sphere, driving me into a fit of rage before solving the many problems.

Entry # 21 3D Messages