Member-only story
Cancer and Covid are helping me lose weight
I guess there’s always an upside
Back in February of 2020, I got Covid. I didn’t know it was Covid at the time. I thought it was just a really bad cold. I did my usual anti-cold routine. I drank lots of liquid, including echinacea tea and green tea with lemon and honey. I took mega-doses of vitamin C, D, and zinc. And, in a couple of days, I felt better. Except for one thing.
My taste buds were shot.
Now, over a year later, my sense of taste is almost back to normal. Or at least it was. Until I went through radiation for cancer.
You see, I have metastatic lung cancer.
At one point, the tumor was pressing against my vena cava. That led to lymphedema in my right arm. My doctor told me that if I didn’t get this taken care of, I could bleed out into my chest and die very quickly.
There was also the pain-in-the-a** factor. I’m an artist and thanks to the swelling in my right arm, I couldn’t paint. The art I produced during the weeks of dealing with lymphedema is rather pathetic as I had so little control.
Surgery wasn’t an option. The meds I had been taking as a possible treatment were not working, and had abysmal side effects. So it seemed radiation was indeed my only option.
