Glenda, you are a kind soul. I have traveled down the colon cancer road. When diagnosed at age 48, I first completed 28 days of chemo/radiation then had my surgery to remove the tumor. After that, I had 12 chemotherapy treatments (one every two weeks- lasting 6 months). This is probably what your friend is having it is called Folflox6. I would be at the infusion center for about 4 hours and then went home with a chemo pack that I had to be connected to for 42 hours. A visiting nurse would come to my home and disconnect that chemo pack from me. If your friend is on the same chemo medication, she may have sensitivity to cold. Drinking a cold beverage was like razor blades. This lasted from treatment until about day 4 afterwards. Even touching something cold from the refrigerator was painful. Room temperature was key for foods and beverages during this period. As your friend progresses through treatment, she may experience pain walking and sore hands/feet. This is another side effect of the medication. At about treatment 6, I would get difficult shin splint pain. For me, the day I was disconnected from my take-home chemo pack was when I would crash needing much rest. Fortunately, I didnâÂÂt experience severe nausea as they had good medicine to help with that. I did have mouth sores and if she experiences this, have her request prescription mouth wash. Also, the taste buds go after about 3 treatments. I never liked spicy food but would crave it as it had a âÂÂtasteâÂÂ. I found cravings for foods with strong flavors. (I know you are a good cook). Chemo is difficult. I had treatments, surgery and a temporary ostomy too. My final chemo treatment was in April 2012 and my ostomy reversed in July 2012. Yesterday, I had my port removed two years from starting this cancer journey. I kept my port for this past year, as they monitored me frequently for any recurrence of the disease. Luckily, I am currently cancer free. Tell your dear friend there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

take a look in wal mart for scarves that cover your head, and come in some cute patterns (I had one for Halloween, and Christmas, lol) they're usually in the section where the purses are.... it's so hard on moms to have chemo, with kids...I can still remember one younger mom crying when the cancer nurse told us no kisses/hugs from children...is she going to have reconstructive surgery after or during?

Sending good wishers to your daughter and prayers for a speedy recovery...know that Our daughter is two years out from her surgery and is doing well so I hope your daughter does just as well...it is a life altering experience ...our daughter recently had an issue going on with her husband and he was upset about something and he couldn't understand why she wasn't upset and she looked at him and said...listen...I had both of my breast cut off and you expect me to be upset about something so trivial...I hope your daughter has the new outlook on life that our Suzanne has..it's actually made her a new and even more wonderful person...

imdrno, thank you for the pecan bars recipe. I am a pecan pie fanatic and I love the idea of being able to cut the bars into small/tiny servings and then freeze them. Adding making pecan bars to my list of things to do! Kathsgrdn, I think your menu is perfect and I wouldn't add or change anything except for offering another dessert. I love pumpkin pie but my hubby detests it. He's quite happy if an alternative such as apple or cherry pie is available, but he will also be perfectly satisfied with a brownie or cookies of the chocolate chip or oatmeal variety. I think you'd be perfectly fine to pick up another different type of pie or a dozen cookies from the bakery and call it done so that you don't have to do any additional work.