Simple, Natural Remedies

Starting around Wednesday or Thursday of this past week, I started to experience some of the minor side-effects of the first round of chemo treatments. The skin on the palm of my hands and the bottom of my feet and the inside of my mouth was getting sensitive. One day I walked too far in some damp shoes resulting in a very sensitive left heel making my shoes uncomfortable, and just my skin all over my body was becoming rough and chapped. My hair also started thinning out one hair at a time, so I'm starting to wear hats more just to get used to having someting on my head in preparation for when all of my hair falls out. So things are slowly changing and I'm making some small adjustments to deal with them.

But I've discovered some simple, easy, natural remedies. For the sensitive mouth, the hospital staff suggested regularly (like after every time I eat) rinsing with baking soda mixed with warm water. How easy and natural is that?! It seems to neutralize the acid in foods and makes my mouth feel nice comfortable.

My skin was also a concern to me. Since it is our body's largest organ, it should be healthy and I don't want to lather it with unnatural body lotion because my body is absorbing all this stuff. So now I'm just using straight virgin olive oil. Just a few drops massaged into the skin works wonders! Then I wipe it lightly with a tissue to prevent getting oil on my clothes. At night I put more on my ankles and feet and wear some old socks all night and by the morning my feet are baby soft and comfortable.

Some easy solutions to the sensitive skin on my hands and feet are to wear gloves when vacuuming and rubber gloves for doing dishes, and crocks once in a while to give the heels a rest from the friction of my closed shoes. I also skipped swimming the other day, because the chlorine was aggravating my skin. Instead, I still walked with Gerard to and from the pool for the walking exercise. Then I sat in a room upstairs overlooking the pool and prepared for our small group study, and did stretching excercises, based on what I learned at the yoga session at WellSpring, so I still got some of the upper body stretching I would have gotten while swimming and had a nice peaceful start to the day.

A friend has given me a common Ethiopian remedy of flax seed, to help protect my organs from chemo and other medications. She ground some flax seed for me and gave me whole flax seed. You can either boil the whole seed and drink the pasty liquid, mix the ground flax with some olive oil and honey and use it on sandwhiches or whatever. Apparently in Ethiopia this is used as a cure-all for anything from stomach upsets to easing child birth. Her friend used it during her chemo treatments and it helped her with nausea. I haven't tried it yet, but hope to brew some tea and mix some paste today.

And there are the green and fruit smoothies that should help boost my immune system and just control some of the acid levels in my system during the chemo treatment. I made my first spinach - mango smoothie yesterday and I'm sure once Ken figures out the borrowed juicer and we try more of my brother Andy's recipes, we'll become totally addicted to these healthy drinks!