Over the Hump

I've just passed the halfway mark with my treatments (5 chemos down, 3 to go!). Had a full CT scan last week, which showed that the cancer has not spread and the tumor has shrunk from 8.5 cm to 4.7 cm. To be honest, I was secretly hoping that the doctor would pronounce that a miracle had occurred and that I could stop treatment immediately (or at least use the word "impressive" the way he did after Round 1), so I was just a teensy little bit disappointed. But he said the progress was just as expected and told me to "keep up the good work".

I'm also a little worried that less than half the tumor is gone. I feel as though maybe I could have made up that .2 cm difference by eating less sugar and eating more leafy green vegetables. Looking back on the past few months, I remember cheating quite a bit -- with decadent chocolate cake at L'Angoletto's and garlic ice cream at the Garlic Queen and hot chocolate with real whipped cream and even a shot of sweet liquor in Nijmegen, not to mention many many bars of dark chocolate and sweetened drinks.

The majority of my friends advise me to not deprive myself: it's bad enough that I have cancer. I should try to at least indulge in small pleasures. But in the back of mind there is that nagging thought that this is only a few months of my life. If I can get rid of all the cancer cells via more discipline, then I can enjoy myself later. I really want to avoid radiation therapy if I can. If eliminating sugar from my diet will help me do that, then I should be willing to do that for just 3 more months.