had my 6th treatment yesterday, which was pretty normal, as treatments go. i'm now one of the sick ones who can eat lunch while getting filled with radioactive fluid and blood. yay!
one of the yard supervisors at my work knows that i go directly to treatments on wednesdays, so she packed me a little lunch of lasagna (i love the school's lasagna, i swear) and a chinese chicken salad to take with me. so multicultural. and since they've been sticking my feet instead of my arms, i'm able to eat more easily.
the doctors also came in and talked to me a little bit. since i submit my food logs nightly via e-mail, they've had an up to date record of my nutrition, not to mention how often the food does NOT get digested.
most food i eat leaves my system from one end or another within an hour, so calorically and nutritionally, i am deficient. (i think mentally, too, but they said they weren't "THOSE" kinds of doctors. psh.)
so, despite my pleasantly plump appearance, and the fact that people see me eating pretty normally on a regular basis, i am malnourished. my anemia has not gotten any better, i'm getting two bags of blood a week. and i need to up the calories.
here is a clip of what the doctors sent me in an e-mail last night:
"Foods that might be good to eat are things like ice cream, instant breakfast, protein shakes, whole milk, peanut butter sandwiches, etc. These are things that pack the most calories for the punch, so you may absorb more calories before the food is purged. Also, iron rich foods such as dark leafy greens, lean red meat, and certain folate rich fruits (see attached list for more specifics.)"
they don't want me on an iron supplement because it may cause my digestive system to go the other way on me, and as much as i hate a constant running tap, i'd hate it even more if i were shut down.
also, they think that my body is rejecting the radiation treatment judging by how bad my shakes are getting. i guess it's good that my body recognizes that it's not normal to glow, but if it gets much worse, they may end my treatments early to avoid me ending up in the hospital. they're pretty confident that it wouldn't affect my overall status if they did that, so after next week's treatment we'll reconvene.
