The Pre-Chemo Prep

I had just over a week to prepare for chemo after I received my diagnosis and made a decision on the treatment plan. What I’ve now realized is that preparing for chemo isn’t all that different from planning a vacation, except instead of a getting to fly to a nice beach in a faraway spot you just get to drive to the infusion center! Ugh. So I bought some new sweats and comfortable lounge clothes to channel my inner Dude (the Big Lebowski) for 9 weeks of chillaxing. I also took this excuse to buy a new Cubs spring training hat since my hair is going to fall out.

Far and away the pre-cancer purchase I’m most excited about though is this AMAZING RECLINER! As you can see, the new recliner really ties the living room together:

This is how I know Lisa loves me deeply. She let me buy this ugly ass but insanely comfortable recliner for my 9 weeks of chemo. It’s now sitting in the middle of our living room and has totally messed up Lisa’s beautiful and meticulously planned space. But seriously, this thing is powered and has built in USB charging ports! It will be great when I’m really feeling crappy.

Another thing I wanted to do before chemo started was to get one last haircut and shave from my barber, Rene. I’ve been going to Rene since I moved to San Diego and he’s the best. The thought of losing my hair has been pretty scary for me and makes me sad to think about. I really love my red hair and it’s such a big piece of my identity as a person that it’s going to be a challenge for me to give that up during chemo. So anyways I went to see Rene one last time and he hooked me up with this bad ass haircut:

As you can see I went all out, and Rene added the cool lightning bolt for some extra pizzazz! You can follow Rene @kleanshaven on Instagram or book an appointment with him on the Freshly Faded website.

Finally, I had to get some good eats before chemo started. The chemo drugs mess up your taste buds and I’m now on the whole 30 diet so I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat a lot of my favorite foods for 9 weeks. It’s been a whirlwind of crazy good food the past couple weeks including:

• IN-N-OUT BURGER
• Ramen
• Fried chicken at Fernside in South Park (thank you Travis!!!)
• Indian Food from Himilayan Curry & Grill
• Lisa’s amazing white chicken chili
• Lisa’s amazing baked ziti
• Hawaiian food from Chris’ Ono Grinds
• Regent’s Pizza
• Homemade biscuits & gravy
• Curry & Noodles from Bahn Thai
• Burgers & Pizza at THE FRIENDLY
• Best steak of my life at Born and Raised with Lisa, my sister Ash, and bro-in-law Chad

Yeah that was some darn good eating and drinking. Last night I attempted to eat two entire boxes of girl scout cookies and failed miserably! Sadly I only made it through a half box of samoas. But now I’m going whole 30 and eating clean and not drinking so I can help my body HAMMER DOWN CANCER these next 9 weeks. We’ve even enlisted the help of a Nutrition Therapy Practitioner that specializes in helping cancer patients. Her name is Karianne and she is super great. She’s a cancer survivor and has been through chemo and knows how to help her clients both beat cancer and minimize the negative side effects of chemo including nausea. If you’d like some excellent Nutritional Therapy (even if you don’t have cancer, she can still help!) check out Karianne at her website: https://inspirawellnesscollective.com/.

Enjoyment of food has been a pretty big part of my life so it will be interesting to see how I do during chemo without some of the foods I really enjoy. Not that I won’t enjoy food at all, but priority #1 right now with food is to eat as healthy as possible to help my body as best I can the next 9 weeks. Up until this point my food choices were made primarily on what tastes good, whereas now I’m choosing foods that will work with my stomach and help me beat cancer. This is a good transition. Healthy eating has eluded me most of my life so maybe I can form some good habits now that will stick after my treatment is done.

Anyways, that’s it for now. It’s been a crazy week and a half prepping for chemo. Tomorrow I’m going try to post about chemo day 1 (which just finished!!!) so stay tuned!

– B