Posts by Susan Gonzalez4

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Google is basically your best friend 😉

Nancy Hernandez43 said:First off, there’s really no magic formula for chemo that guarantees zero side effects. There’s this book called "A Guide Through Chemotherapy" that has some solid advice. I haven't read more than a few pages myself, but from what I saw, it seems legit.

No matter how rough things get, staying active and eating well—basically just trying to live a normal life without overthinking everything—is key. It’s tough to believe everything will go perfectly while you're simultaneously wrestling with fear about what's coming, but obsessing over side effects makes it even harder.

With all the upcoming chaos and the stress that comes with chemo, please don't forget about yourself and your pregnancy. Even if you're usually an emotional person, you're going to need to find the strength to keep those feelings from taking over, because letting them spiral will mostly just hurt you.

Sending you so much strength. I'm sure as he goes through treatment, you'll both figure out the best ways to support him. Hang in there!

Thanks for the reply. My mother-in-law is the one handling his care since we don't live together; I just wanted to help prepare her and my husband a bit. My father-in-law is actually doing okay. His surgeries were brutal, but not because of the cancer itself—it was because they missed something during his colonoscopy and ended up tearing his bowel. They had to clean him out twice before they finally caught the carcinoma on the third try. He just got out of the hospital two months ago, managed to gain back about 15 pounds, and now they've told us he needs to start chemo. It looks like they were just waiting for him to recover a bit. I really think he'll be fine, though; he's already survived so much during those four months in the hospital.

Hey everyone, I’ve got a question about chemo. My father-in-law had rectal cancer removed—no metastasis, they didn't even have to touch his lymph nodes. He’s mostly "recovered" from the surgery now (long story short, there was some sort of medical error or bad call by the surgeon), and he just had his oncology follow-up. They told him he needs to start chemotherapy ASAP. My question is: how can I help him manage the side effects, and what should we actually expect? I know the answers are probably buried in this thread, but I’m pregnant right now and I’m feeling pretty emotional, so I’d rather not dive into all the heavy reading. Thanks in advance.

thanks, I always keep some activated charcoal on hand, partly because of my pets. Even though I don’t really struggle with diarrhea—I’ve only dealt with it once, honestly—I still get pretty anxious about it because I'm naturally thin and have been dealing with that ulcerative colitis diagnosis.

Angela Wright-why go with Linux, though? What's wrong with activated charcoal?

Oh, for sure. I find it hilarious when people blame everything on some random virus, completely ignoring all the junk they’re actually shoving down their throats. And as for swallowing stuff—hey, a little laughter never hurt anyone. You actually gave me a good laugh (I'm a huge dog person 🤣), so you clearly don't take everything so seriously

Scott Allen10 said:So, what’s actually going on with you? Did you accidentally swallow something weird or something?
You running a fever too?

😂

Quick question for any dog owners out there—did your pup swallow something they shouldn't have?

Honestly, maybe they just ate something weird or hung out with another dog that had a bug.

You really need to stay hydrated. Try sending someone to a CVS or Walgreens to pick up some Pedialyte. Honestly, if you can't even keep that down, you’re probably looking at an IV drip at the hospital.

Maybe you should just go see a doctor?

Melissa Moore39 said:But if I get an endoscopy and everything looks totally clean, can I just assume I don't have Crohn's or ulcerative colitis?

Not exactly. If a Passage was enough to rule everything out, doctors wouldn't even bother with colonoscopies or any of those other tests.

Melissa Moore39 said:Wait, what kind of test are we talking about here—is it checking for Crohn's and ulcerated passages, or is it a colonoscopy?

I'm thinking just a colonoscopy.

edit: I actually just had a gastroscopy and a colonoscopy done, and my diagnosis came from a biopsy result that the doctor read out to me over the phone.

I can't speak to the Passage, but let me tell you, colonoscopies are no fun—they're uncomfortable and pretty painful. But once you just decide, "Okay, I have to get this done," you just power through it. Honestly, for me, the prep was way worse than the actual procedure. And then there was the diagnosis: ulcerative colitis. The weird thing is, I don't even have symptoms. My advice? Just make sure you find a really solid doctor. If I had stuck with my last one, I’d probably still be stuck on a bunch of meds with a ton of nasty side effects.

Glass wool isn't even in the same league as asbestos. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that any particles just clear out of your lungs after about 50 days or so.

I’m actually the opposite—a low blood pressure person. I’ve been paying close attention to how coffee affects me when my pressure hits those really low levels. One morning, I had a small espresso made at home with a splash of milk—just a tiny little cup, really—and the result? Absolutely nothing. Honestly, I don't see any reason to give up the caffeine habit. I don't think one cup just to wake yourself up is going to do any harm 🙂

In the meantime, stick to some cranberry juice or maybe some uva ursi tea—personally, I’d go with the cranberry, it tastes way better. Just whatever you do, don't mix them together; one's acidic and the other is alkaline, so you'll just end up neutralizing the whole thing and wasting your time. Also, make sure you're cranking up the fluids. The goal here is to flush your system out as much as possible.

It’s really not a big deal. She’s heading to the ER, and they'll probably just throw some antibiotics at her, which should clear everything right up.

Just a little bit of sweetness, nothing crazy.

Just use some cold compresses, but don't leave them on too long—you don't want him ending up with frostbite.

Honestly, at the end of the day, all I care about is that he’s a pro and actually knows what he’s doing. 🙂