There have been a lot of questions about…

Chemo Treatments:

I am starting on Friday, August 17th.

The general side effects of oxaliplatin are sensitivity to cold, numbness and/or tingling in the hands and feet, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue.  The general side effects of Xeloda are nausea, vomiting, and sores in the mouth.  Hair loss is not a side effect.  Everyone reacts to the chemo differently; I’m going to take this one day at a time.

The three week cycles may take longer than three weeks.  If I am not reacting well to the chemo, and/or white blood cell counts are low, the doctors may need to extend the time of the cycle or reduce the medication.  

My treatments will be done at Valley Medical Oncology in Los Gatos.  This is very close to home, they have a dedicated and attentive staff, and their treatment protocol was the same as recommended by the doctor at Stanford.

For now, I’m focusing on (1) developing the discipline to take my chemo pills on a daily basis; (2) understanding and managing the side effects; and, (3) improving my diet.

Finally, I appreciate being able to speak to people who have had colon cancer and have gone through the same chemo treatments.  My doctor has connected me with one of his patients, and the discussion was invaluable.  If you know others who are going through the same thing, please let me know.

Wipeout:

The episode was filmed in January 2012.

There were 12 winners and 12 losers.  All losers had also made it to the Wipeout zone in a previous episode.

The winners and losers were pre-selected and paired, by the writers/producers, prior to our filming.  I met Rambow on the morning of our filming date (that’s when the producers announced all the pairings).  

Vanessa was very nice.  She also likes Lululemon.

Rambow and I talked strategy prior to our qualifier run.  Everyone (all the contestants) knew it would be a fast field.  Our plan was to just go-for-it, without hesitating, as speed was most important in the qualifier round.  Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough.

For making it to the 4th big ball and swiping “ballsy”, we won $500 ($250 each).

Thank you, everyone, for coming to the viewing party.  And, special thanks to Mabelle Artz, for organizing it!

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Archive Comments

Amadraeus: =/ How is it that I missed that viewing party? Well, at least I got to see the one where you won the whole thing.

party planner: So glad we all got to watch together! I'll send you the pics shortly. oh yeah, and good job on swiping ballsy!

dshen: i find it funny to have a post about your chemo treatment and then it flows into your wipeout episode

meowmi pen: way to get that ballsy! thanks for the yummy food and drinks...it was great seeing you. good luck tomorrow and in the coming weeks. we'll come for a brady skinny-dip session soon. big hug! <3