Tasty Tastebuds!

Last week I was upset that I had to miss my chemo treatment, but this week I am seeing things differently.  I saw a quote by Muhammed Ali that helped me. “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” I have been so caught up in wanting to get chemo overwith, that I have almost lost sight of what was most important.  If I don't get the neuropathy (numbness) under control, it could be irreversible and I could have it for the rest of my life.  So I need to not keep counting the days until chemo is over, but instead, I need to try and make every day count that I am alive and here on earth!

This has been an interesting week.  I have not known how I would feel not having chemo, since the last 12 weeks have been packed with all the fun chemo drugs.  I was surprised that I didn't feel better.  I am still really tired and on Friday I developed a UTI (Urinary Track Infection).   Thank goodness I recognized the symptoms early Friday and so I was able to call the doctor and give a urine sample when I went to get my EKO.  Sure enough, the sample came back with infection.  So they gave me an antibiotic they thought would fight it.  On Monday, I got a call and they said that the culture had grown over the weekend and they found out that I had E-Coli in my urine and that the meds they had given me were resistant to this strain of bacteria.  So they called in some new stuff.

During that same time, I continued to have pain around my rib cage.  This was the main reason the doctor ordered the chest x-ray, EKG and EKO (which all came back normal).  As I was talking to my nurse she asked if I might have some numbness in my chest/rib cage.  I had never thought of that before, just felt pressure.  But the more I thought and touched it, the more it could be described as numb.  She contacted the doctor and they started me on a heavy dose of anti-fungus meds.  She said that this sounded like SHINGLES.  I told her I didn't have any sores, but she said they could be internal.  So they are just being safe than sorry.  Shingles are a virus which is a member of the family of cold sores, which I have had all of my life.   Once you get the virus, it lies dormant in you until you are under stress.  Chemo therapy is a big stress and can lead to shingles.  How fun!  Why not add a few more things to make my life interesting...right?

Anyway, I have realized that blessings do come in disguise.  I was upset last week because I couldn't continue treatment.  But this week, I have had some significant changes which have been worth missing a treatment.  The first change has been my thumbs and fingers.  I would say they are 75% improved from last week.  I can pretty much text again....yeah...so now life can go on!  haha

The other thing that has been soooo amazing to me is that I can finally TASTE my food again!  My tastebuds are working again.  YIPPEE!!!  You have no idea how horrible it has been not being able to enjoy the food I'm eating because there is no taste to it.  Many times we would be eating dinner and I would say to Craig as I am eating the same food as he is, "It looks good, is it good?"  I did a little research and found out that smell plays a major role in taste.

Smell is probably the most important part of taste.  You can experiment on your own with this.  Eat something while smelling something totally different and see how that changes the way you perceive the taste.  The two go essentially hand in hand.  If you have a stuffy nose, your sense of smell is decreased which leads to decreased sense of taste.  (That totally makes since why I wasn't able to taste anything, because the Avastin caused me to have a bloody stuffed nose almost constantly.   The taste buds in your mouth tell you if something is sweet, salty, bitter, or sour. Think of it as the outlines in a coloring book.  Smell fills in the color.  If you can't smell, the taste buds are still there, but essentially aren't effective.  WOW!  So interesting to me.  This week I'm so thankful for tastebuds and a nose that works!!!