The Good Side of Having Cancer!?!?!?

OK, we all know that having cancer sucks. I've had conversations with doctors that I would never wish on any of you. Not fun. IV's--not fun. Hospital stays--not fun. Scabby head and pimply face--not fun. I could go on and on, but that's not the point of this blog post.

The point of this post is that there are also some REALLY GOOD things that come from having cancer and I think that I'll share them with you. In no particular order, here's what comes to my mind:

• You get preferential treatment at doctor's offices and hospitals. Generally speaking, you get to go to the front of the line.
  
• You get the best pharmaceuticals. I had a reaction once during chemo and they gave me some sort of happy medicine. Wow--good stuff. :)
• Catching up with old friends. It's great to re-establish old friendships and see what your old friends are up to.
• Material Things--How can a person be expected to heal from surgery without a Playstation 3?!?! Also, spouses don't even blink an eye when you tell them that you need new kitchen equipment to support your new diet (I just got a new food processor, dehydrator, and I'm going blender shopping soon).
  
• Family--You really realize just how important your family is. Quality time with them takes on a whole new meaning. You no longer take them for granted.
  
• A caring wife massages your hands and feet each and every night.
• You can try radical new hairstyles that you've never had the courage to try before (spikey blue hair comes to mind!).
  
• When you're out in the woods with the guys, and you get too tired and have to lay down in the dirt for a break, the rest of the guys will carry you (the words to Lean on Me are echoing through my head right now).
• Your community, workplace, and place of worship reach out to you and offer you support in ways that you never dreamed possible. It renews your faith in the goodness in people's hearts.
  
• People cook for you and bring you food to fatten you up.
• People from around the world read your blog.
• You can go to the spa to relax and it counts as therapy.
  

There's so much more, but the point is that I know that I'm truly blessed. I've often told that to Robin even before cancer. We have a very good life and we're very lucky.

Best wishes,

Tim

Music Video:
Lean On Me by (Bill Withers)

Music Video Code by Video Code Zone

Learning to Eat Raw

Update 1/19/09 - I found a new yummy recipe It involves blending raw cashews, vanilla, water, dates, and cinnamon. Once it's blended, it become similar to yogurt or cream. Then you mix in berries. Good stuff. Here's a link. There's a video on the website.

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This raw foods diet is really challenging. For the last week, I've had a healthy fruit/veggie juice for breakfast. It's usually 1 or 2 oranges, an apple, a handful of spinach, a zucchini, blueberries and blackberries, and a cucumber. Then I add some Mona Vie and some liquid vitamins. Actually, the juice drink is pretty good, but the added veggies took some getting used to. It's definitely healthy and gets me off to a good start for the day. Erica and Robin love the fresh OJ (they skip the rest of the veggies in theirs).

For lunch and dinner, I've been having nice big salads and/or veggie pieces (like broccoli with a little ranch).

After a week of that, I was ready to start preparing raw foods. To help with this process, I bought a new food processor and a new dehydrator. I spent several hours yesterday getting ready to prepare some food. I made 3 recipes--1 was good. The other 2 were horrible. I made a fantastic raw apple pie (recipe linked here). The 2 horrible ones were tasty tacos and raw pasta with basil cream.

So, I'm going back to my favorite cancer website to find out what other people have made. I'll also be looking for more yummy recipes online. If any of you have good raw veggie recipes, please let me know. Good ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes,

Tim

I'm Unremarkable and Proud of It

Good news--My recent CT scan says that I'm unremarkable, meaning no
new cancer. It appears that the chemo is keeping the cancer at bay.

Tim
Personal: mr_rosenbloom@mac.com
(Sent from my phone)

Lots to Talk About

Happy New Year to you and your families. I am happy to have finished 2008 and am ready for a new year. 2008 was tough. I got cancer, we thought that my father in law might have cancer (we've since learned that he does not have cancer), my uncle's girlfriend came down with cancer...Need I say more?

I started the year off with a resolution of sorts. I've decided to change me eating habits to a more cancer-hostile diet. Basically, this means lots of veggies and fruit, with the hopes of eliminating most (if not all) sugar, eliminating meat, eliminating fungus (yeasts, mushrooms, etc.), and changing the body's pH to a more cancer-hostile environment. It starts by trying to eat 70 to 80 percent raw foods and gets tougher from there. For the last few days, I've been trying to eat tons of veggies. It's going well, but is very tough. The idea of adding years to my life makes the process easier. The idea came from many sources, but especially the pH Miracle and Kris Car. She has written a book and made a video called Crazy Sexy Cancer and has appeared on Oprah with Dr. Oz. Good stuff. This diet should also help me to get rid of the 20 lbs that I've put on since last April (I attribute them mostly to my ice cream and see food diet).

I had a CT scan a week ago and am waiting for results (the results should be available during my oncologist appoitment visit next week). I'll post a new blog entry after that appointment. I'm getting to be a pro at CT scans. I came prepared for the it--empty stomach and LIDOCAINE W/PRILOCAINE rubbed on my arm to numb it up for the IV that goes with the scan. The technician/nurse who was doing the scan was impressed and had never seen anyone come with a numb spot on their arm. I think that it was my 4th scan in the last year, but who's counting.

Fun fact--I realized last week that chemo has not only thinned my hair, but it's made my armpit hair fall out. Robin is jealous.

Have I said thank you to you lately? Thank you to all of you. I appreciate everything that everyone has done to help me out over the last year. My friends, family, and community have been great in so many ways. We're truly very blessed.

Our Israel trip is on hold due to the instability in the region. That's ok. I can't see a reason to fight for my life against cancer only to go to Israel and get shot or blown up.

Back to the topic of cancer, I saw the Patrick Swayze feature done by Barbara Walters earlier this week. I really enjoyed watching it. He's inspirational. I can appreciate when he said that he wants to last until they find a cure. Here's a link to the story.

Also on the topic of cancer, I recently learned of a 4th grade boy at a local school, who recently learned that he has bone cancer. It started behind his knee and they just found 2 spots on his pancreas. His family is waiting for results of a test to see if those spots are cancerous. Chemo will start after the test results. I mentioned him in this email for a couple of reasons. First, please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Second, a group of families are signing up to bring them food and help out. We're going to send them a gift card for a restaurant or bring them some food. I have yet to contact them but I may try today. If you would like information about how you can help out, please contact me via email. I'll share the details that I have. Obviously, I won't publish specific information about them here for privacy reasons.

How about some good news? My cousin and his wife just had a baby. I have a new second cousin named Benjamin. I can't wait to meet him.

Well, I've said a mouthfull. Best wishes and big hugs to all of you,

Tim