Good news [Lonewolf Ed]

[Lonewolf Ed]

I thought I'd start a new thread for updates on my cancer treatments and whatever else is going on, since the bad news thread title is misleading now.

My last treatment went better than the previous two and my chest wound is still closed up, which is a good thing. My arm is getting slightly stronger and I hope to resume lifting dumbbells next week. I need to build up my strength again, because I am going back to Denmark in May and I am extremely pumped about that! I'd like to be able to schlepp my own checked bag and not have someone else lifting it for me.

It's going to be a fabulous trip, 6 weeks and a couple of days for me. My brother is going along as well as my friends Chipp and Rod. Chipp is staying close to 3 weeks and has not gone with me over there since 2006 so he is also very pumped to be going. It will be Rod's first trip and he will be there for 2 weeks. I will get to be a tour guide. Also, I am throwing a party in my favorite pub of all, the wonderful, ever-magnificent Irish House in Aalborg on May 7th. The owner and I are friends and he will give me a little discount. We'll have Irish stew and brews in the cellar and I hope to have around 25 family and friends there. I might bill it as the "Fu** Cancer Party." A few months back, I was not sure I'd ever be able to go over to Denmark again or if I'd even be alive, but the cancer hasn't gotten me yet. I'm doing a number on it, instead.

Some other cool things I plan to do when I am back in my ancestral lands include a wine tasting in a castle, touring another castle and the northernmost manor home in the country, and visiting Skagen, the top of Denmark, where you can stand on a little patch of beach and have one foot in one sea and one in another. They also have a brewpub up there I am wanting to check out. I will start and end my trip in Aalborg and spend 5 weeks in an apartment I rent that is very close to the beach. I can hardly wait for May 4th to roll around!

[cdcox]

Ed, sorry to hear that you are having a rough go of it at the moment. Hopefully you will be feeling better in a month for your trip.

[Lonewolf Ed]

Originally Posted by cdcox

Ed, sorry to hear that you are having a rough go of it at the moment. Hopefully you will be feeling better in a month for your trip.

Thanks, I hope so, too! I was in bed most of the day and I have chills that come and go. My appetite was not so good this afternoon and evening, either. I started feeling stronger as I was watching the Walking Dead, but a couple of hours after that, I started going downhill again. I drank a pot of green tea, so I should be hydrated and up during the night to send it on its way. My joints don't ache like they did yesterday. I feel very tired now even though I was in bed for about 17 hours today, though not all at the same time. I hope I am not becoming anemic. I really don't know how to tell.

[DaNewGuy]

Good idea to lay off the beer till your trip big man. Have a blast my friend

[Chromatic]

Hope you're doing alright, Ed.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed

I need to remember to ask if I can have grapefruit again, since most of my meds and the chemo stuff make it off limits. When it gets warmer out, I just love a cold glass of grapefruit juice. Over in Denmark, they have very good grapefruit sodas, too.

This stuff is pretty good. I like the blackberry myself but they have this grapefruit version as well. They sell them at Costco.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

This stuff is pretty good. I like the blackberry myself but they have this grapefruit version as well. They sell them at Costco.

They sell them in bottles at Price Chopper and HyVee too, in the health food area. They're pretty good.

[Lonewolf Ed]

Thanks to being on Xarelto, I can't have grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and should even avoid grapefruit sodas. Damn! Oh, well. Over in Denmark, I like the orange sodas the best, in particular Nickoline brand with 15% juice. The lemon-lime is also terrific. They get Schwepps lemon as well and that is awesome.

[burt]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed

Thanks to being on Xarelto, I can't have grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and should even avoid grapefruit sodas. Damn! Oh, well. Over in Denmark, I like the orange sodas the best, in particular Nickoline brand with 15% juice. The lemon-lime is also terrific. They get Schwepps lemon as well and that is awesome.

I just knew you were gonna say this...

[Lonewolf Ed]

Originally Posted by burt

I just knew you were gonna say this...

The thing that bugs me most about it is that in the summer when I come in from mowing or whatever, there is NOTHING that makes me feel better than a huge glass full of cold grapefruit juice. I can't get it into me fast enough. Hopefully, I will be off the Xarelto before I die. Blasted blood clots...

[Squalor2]

sassafrass tea. its good for the gut.

[BlackHelicopters]

Consider mixing vodka and grapefruit juice. You will thank me later.

[58-4ever]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed

The thing that bugs me most about it is that in the summer when I come in from mowing or whatever, there is NOTHING that makes me feel better than a huge glass full of cold grapefruit juice. I can't get it into me fast enough. Hopefully, I will be off the Xarelto before I die. Blasted blood clots...

What happens if you drink the grapefruit juice?

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Originally Posted by 58-4ever

What happens if you drink the grapefruit juice?

MNT explains that furanocoumarins found in grapefruit inhibit the body's CYP3A4 metabolizing enzyme from properly breaking down medications. As a result, more of the drug winds up in the bloodstream, and toxic drug levels or overdose can occur, resulting in:

•respiratory failure
•gastrointestinal bleeding
•bone marrow suppression in patients with weak immune systems
•renal toxicity
•acute kidney failure
•sudden death

[Squalor2]

Originally Posted by patteeu

They sell them in bottles at Price Chopper and HyVee too, in the health food area. They're pretty good.

where can i find sassfrass tea at?

[Lonewolf Ed]

Originally Posted by Squalor2

where can i find sassfrass tea at?

I haven't really looked for it, but doubt it is available at my local Price Chopper. Google it and see what pops up for online ordering. You might find some good prices that way, too.