7 Comments
May 16, 2023Liked by Jen Zug

Love how informed you guys are. I'm the type of person that never reads instructions for anything and wants to skip to the end result straight away so I would be in the dark completely. Keeping you both in my heart with hopes for a successful chemo outcomes!

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Having a plan and research knowledge is a way to take back some control—sort of an FU of your own to cancer. Hang in there.

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That place totally looks like an Apple store! Also, sending lots of love and healing thoughts Jen. You're all in my thoughts.

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Wow, such a great post, Jen - I am particularly grateful for your explanations of the treatments. I've learned so much, and you've made sense of some of the things that I've come across in the past and hadn't felt able at the time to ask those people who'd been involved in them. Thank you.

Sending you and Bryan all the very best on your trips together to Schrödinger's Apple Store. And yay to being in the out-of-control group and getting dealt the 'Acupuncture: YES' card! 🤣🙌😊

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Gratitude for the details here because they are super helpful. I hope they provide a measure of relief or release for you as you write them. I just lumped “chemo” in one big bucket with hair loss and fatigue without really understanding the mechanics of why and how drug interactions work with the body so thanks for this. I also loved the Apple Store reference. It’s so earthy and modern and sleek all at once. And I finally tossed my Fall gnome wooden paper tower holder a few or so ago as it kept giving splinters. Be well, to yourselves, to one another. And I don’t watch hockey so no harm, no foul.

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I am ecstatic that Fred Hutch is researching the benefits of acupuncture! I'm not so thrilled that you and Bryan have needed to come across that info. But yay to being the pincushion - I found Traditional Chinese Medicine, including acupuncture, to be VITAL to my well-being and recovery from chemo and radiation. But the oncologists didn't want to hear it for a moment. So bravo medics for opening your minds :)

One driving force behind me writing and performing my play Breastless was to show the benefits of marrying the two healing philosophies and some doctors at least have found it interesting, but this research is a huge boost to my hopes for change. Thank you for sharing, Jen and if Bryan hasn't seen/read any of Kelly Turner's work on Radical Remission, there is information on the benefits of light exercise before, and even during, chemo infusions which is useful - but you're at Fred Hutch! I hope they advise on it already.

“We now encourage patients to spend 10-20 minutes getting some aerobic activity either immediately before coming in or once they are in the clinic. We know that this will cut acute toxicity by more than half. A lot of the symptoms and side effects that I’ve seen over the last several decades with patients all dissipate if you can get them to do a bit of aerobic activity before you start running their drugs.” (My synopsis here: https://emmajarrett.substack.com/p/radical-remission-episode-five)

And not everyone loses their hair by all accounts, most but not all. And the acupuncture helped me enormously with neuropathy. Here if you want any more. Hope I haven't overstepped. Good Luck.

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Your sign is everything! Hahaha! And I love that it was set to "fall" well into spring. I realized the other day I still have a baby Jesus sign hanging in my living room from Christmas. I left it there because I could use more Jesus all 12 months of the year.

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