Haven’t written much in a long time, just trying to get
through this second chemo session; however, I think I can successfully say I
have avoided the ER this time! Well done, me!
To backtrack, my second infusion was January 18 – Woke up at
my usual 3 a.m., stayed awake a long time, finally dozed just before 6. Tired
of this.
Got up to the blood draw area early today, but it still took
a long time before they got it done. Good news is that the nurse thought my
port looked just fine, so that worry is set to rest. We had brought a Seattle
Sutton lunch with us, so went downstairs to the café and ate lunch before
infusion. I was supposed to start
infusion at 1 p.m., but some of my labs weren’t back, so it was 1:30 before
they called me back. They gave me a Zofran for nausea, and then have to wait 30
minutes before starting chemo. My oncologist had dialed the amount back
slightly, but the Taxotere was going to take 90 minutes, and the Cytoxan 15, so
now I was going to be late for my oncologist visit at 3:30.
Chemo passed uneventfully. I made sure to drink a lot during
the infusion. I think I’ve drunk a gallon already today. Finally, about 4 p.m.,
I was through and hot footed it over to my oncologist. I was now a work in, so
it took a while, but eventually both she and her Fellow came in and checked me
out. She’s also going to dial back the Skele-gro shot tomorrow since I had some
bone pain from the lesser one before. I just hope that doesn’t mean I’ll crater
on blood counts this time, but I know she knows what’s she’s doing. Confidence
is good.
It was after 5 p.m. before we got away, so I drove, but I
felt great. I expected to be sitting in wall to wall traffic, but lo and
behold, everything was moving great. We had to stop at our Seattle Sutton
distributor on the way home, so it was way past dinner time, and we made the
mistake of eating out again. I will say this, I only ate half, and we froze the
halves when home to hold for the next rebellion.
Felt tired, but OK the rest of the evening, but the night
was restless. I may have awakened every hour. Good ole “Dex.”
Jan. 19 – Husband took the dogs into the groomer this
morning, and I got a few things done that I’ve been trying to knock out. By the
time lunch was over, the dogs were ready, and it was time to go back to the
hospital for the Skele-gro shot. He just let me off, and I ran up to the
infusion clinic. It just took a little bit, then we were headed back home.
Couldn’t face the planned meal, so just had a baked potato
which tasted really good. So far, all systems are go, just tired from not
sleeping well, plus my taste buds are so erratic.
Jan. 20 – When I took my cotton night cap off this morning,
it was full of little, tiny hairs. I took my shower, and even more came out,
although I’m not what I would consider a skin head at this point. I’m glad that
I didn’t shave my head, but just had it buzzed very short, since the shaving
can create little stubble bumps sometimes. This way, the very small hairs are
falling out naturally without any irritation.
Haven’t had any bone pain from the Skele-gro yet, or the
joint pain from the “Dex” crash, but I am being pro-active taking Tylenol and
ibuprofen at appropriate intervals. In fact, other than being tired and having
funny tasting problems, I feel somewhat normal.
Jan. 21 – woke up to dog throwing up this morning, then I
didn’t feel so good myself. Can’t really call it nausea, but there was a
tightness in my chest that didn’t feel right. My husband got me some crackers
which helped and eventually I was able to get up, ate a couple more crackers,
and got all my meds down. My right arm is hurting – rotator cuff? Exploding
tendons? IDK
Jan. 22 – not so great day. My husband had to go to his
doctor which is way up north, so he’ll be gone for most of the day. I tried to
have some toast for breakfast – first slice was fine, second slice morphs into
cardboard. I spent most of the day drowsing on the sofa, dogs on my lap. I
didn’t even turn my computer on.
Jan. 23 – felt some better today, managed to get out to help
my son with some paperwork for his car. Tired out fast, but no major problems.
Still can’t eat what I ‘m supposed to eat. I’ve manfully tried to get through
the Seattle Sutton meals, but it’s not working for me, plus now they’re
starting to get old. Decided to cut our losses. I came up with some meals that
are somewhat simple for husband to put into oven or microwave that I think I
can eat. My appetite is so capricious; he says I’m like a pregnant woman.
Jan. 24-29 – feeling really tired. Still having lower GI
issues or “pooping funny” as my son calls it – that will be one of the most
wondrous things when I am through with this – just to be a normal evacuator!
I’ve been taking my temperature twice daily just to keep
track of trends since this is the week for low blood counts. It goes up a
little each day, but not until Wednesday do I feel the dreaded “flu-like”
symptoms. Wednesday 3 weeks ago is when I hit the magic 100.4. My temp, however
does not climb any higher than 99.8, and I awake Thursday feeling temp free.
Although I’ve no temp issues, I’m not willing to bring it on
by over indulging, so I take it easy Thursday and Friday. We had pre-ordered
Season 6 of Downton Abbey and it came
on Thursday, so guess who binge watched almost the whole thing. We finished it
on Friday, and while sad that it is over, I felt they did a wonderful job of
closing all the story lines. And now, we can watch all six seasons whenever we
feel like it.
Jan. 30 – I now have a little over a week to get my strength
back up before getting zapped again on Feb. 8th. Still feeling good
although stamina is down. Interesting thing, although my hair has completely fallen
out on my head, I now have a crop of very fine fuzz on top. Is it trying to
grow?
I still have my eyebrows and eyelashes, although they are thinning.
January 31 – Today is husband’s birthday, and we celebrated
with a brunch at a new local restaurant. It was very good, enjoyed the company
of son and DIL as well. I enjoyed my soup, but wished I had gotten the French
onion after tasting my husband’s. I got the Crab cake Benedict which was pretty
good; the hollandaise was terrific. We shared their special dessert – the gold
bar cake which was outstanding. We will definitely be coming back.
Feb. 1 – I had tried for a while to get into the “Look Good,
Feel Better” seminar sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Every time I
called, I got an outdated recording, and no way to leave a message. I finally
contacted the ACS directly, and they put me in touch with the representative.
I was scheduled to attend today, so I drove down myself, got
to the meeting room slightly early, one other person was there. She was busy on
her phone, so no small talk. Two more people came in and looked at me
strangely, prompting me to ask, “Is this the ‘Look Good, Feel Better’ seminar.
That was a big NO.
Finally found the Cancer Society representative, who somehow
had not gotten the room reserved. She managed to get the seminar pushed to 11
a.m., so I got a snack and waited till then. Only one other person in the room
again, but this time, we talked, and it turns out she was there for the
seminar.
She has lymphoma which they have treated with her own stem
cells. How fantastic is that? How could there have been controversy over such a
miraculous treatment? Her lymphoma is in remission; unfortunately, the poor
thing also has lupus which has come out of remission. See, every time I start
thinking how bad off I am, I always run into someone else who has it much
worse.
The volunteer cosmetologist who ran our seminar had had a
mother with cancer, so she knew something about what we were going through. She
was very sweet, but not overly knowledgeable about makeup application. What
amazed me was the bag of makeup we were given. Whole bottles and compacts, not
sample or travel size from every possible make-up company – Estee Lauder, Revlon,
Physician’s Formula etc.
We were also supposed to be shown how to tie scarves
and see a video, but that did not happen. Oh well, can’t complain when I’ve
been given so much. Here I am with wig and makeup -
Feb 2-7 – I got some really bad news during this week about
my cousin Terry. He died unexpectedly from an intestinal blood clot. Talk about
making my puny little side effects feel very small indeed.
Terry was almost two
years younger than I, and although we had not seen each other in several years,
he had been very supportive of my breast cancer diagnosis. We were very close
as we grew up together along with his two brothers, my brother and my other cousins.The following firing squad picture was taken in 1963 as we all prepared to go to Six Flags Over Texas. My cousin Terry is the second from the left. Never fear, we two girls had to wear the muscle shirts as well (they were aqua and white,) we just hadn't gotten the memo when this picture was taken.
My
cousins have always been more like brothers and a sister than cousins to me, so this hit me
very hard. I feel very healthy in comparison, says the chick with the cancer.
All this week, I have really been feeling so well that I
almost could forget that I have cancer. Well, at least until I look in the
mirror. I’m really dreading Monday’s infusion because I know it will put a stop
to all this feeling good and replace it with gunk.
OK, step back, think positively. Last session was much
better than the first, maybe the third will be better still. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Sweetie ... we think of you and speak of you ALL the time. I just wait and wait for these narratives and keep hoping that you are still "rising above". Your attention to the details that matter never disappoints. I am always encouraged and uplifted by your positive attitude and determination ... you continue to be a Super Hero!!
ReplyDeleteLove you both .....
You always surround me with love with your comments. I can feel your and Jeff's support all the way from Tucdon to Homewood!
ReplyDeleteThat, of course, should be Tucson
ReplyDelete