Le Rhume, Part Deux

Okay, so I’ve now had said phone appointment with my integrative oncologist, Dr. West. She is actually not worried about my immunity. Even though my white blood cell count is low, some of the other structures (neutrophils?) and something else (??) are well in balance and actually give a better understanding of immunity. She said, in fact, she would be more worried if my body showed no signs of fighting off an invader, than if it does, which is what a cold is.

She did have further recommendations for things that can be helpful for building immunity, as well as being anti-viral. So she has prescribed some other dosages of various vitamins and minerals (A, C, D, Zinc) as well as the “wet sock” treatment, rest, broth, Throat Coat tea, warm baths, and neti pot if necessary for congestion.

She also recommends exercising even if I feel like crap as long as the cold stays “above the shoulders” because exercise is great for upping white blood cell counts. That one is going to be harder for me to break my habit, because my habit in the past has been good food, vitamins, and complete rest. Exercising when sick seems counter-intuitive to me, but she says the scientific data supports it and she has seen it in action. Dang. Not really what I wanted to hear.

As you who have been following me know, exercise is the hard part of this for me. I have been doing work with the exercise physiologist, Joanne, and the FitCancer class at CSU, which is going well, and I enjoy just fine. There is something about fitting the time into my day which seems like a burden. Once I’m there I don’t mind it; actually I enjoy it. Scheduling it in or attending pre-existing classes may be my ticket. That, and doing things that seem like more fun than exercise, like dance. I’ll keep working on it.

To that end, I have an appointment scheduled with a trainer at the local rec center for tomorrow. I initially cancelled it, but now have revoked the cancellation, so we’ll see how that goes.

Additionally, we talked about headaches. I have one now. There is such a thing as the Greenwall Family Headache. Not sure if that is a Swedish heritage thing or what. But it is a thing. I have had a lot fewer since I gave up my ovaries and my hormones aren’t cycling in the same way anymore. Yet, I do still have them. She says Vitamin B2 Riboflavin is helpful for that. So all these things are on order and I should receive them in the next day or two.

So I think I’ll eat something, take these food-meds, and then go for the warm bath. Maybe it will help the head, too.

Luckily I have 4/5 of my pet therapists surrounding me. Lacy has gone to work with Grant. She does that sometimes. Workin’ dog.