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Chemo Scheduled
My first “oncology infusion” is a week from Friday. It gives me a little bit more time to heal from the incisions and vaccinations. The oncologist’s nurse ordered the medications I’ll need to take – a steroid that I’ll need to take the day before chemo, the day of, and then the day after. Plus, two drugs that help with nausea. The infusion will last most of the day on Friday. I’ll need to go back in Saturday for a shot (joy!). And a week after the infusion, I have a nurse visit to check “toxicity” levels. The hope is that you recover enough in 3 weeks to get another…
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Skin Biopsy
First things first… If you want to help… You can join this Facebook group. I won’t be in it, but I’ve been assured it’s not there for you to talk shit. 😉 This way, I can filter info through a central line and worry about getting better. Skin Biopsy Results Skin biopsy results came back positive. I was expecting this; that’d be my luck. So, how I process these things are: Take the news calmly. Say “ok” a lot. Finish with “thank you so much.” Text people who I remember to text. ? 5 minutes later…I think, AM I GOING TO DIE? Write a message to docs re: life expectancy…
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Chemo Week
The weekend felt like the last of something. Being normal. Not being pumped full of drugs. There was one night where I just couldn’t settle my mind down. I worried about all the work I wanted to get to. The lists I needed to make. The food I wanted to eat. Even with less than four hours of sleep, I was up and at ‘em the next morning. That’s what I mean by the feeling passes relatively quickly. Bad night but not a bad day. Things don’t feel hopeless when I wake up. These are good things. I’ve never done well with unknowns. I’m a planner, I even plan worst-case…
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Supportive DNA
More often than not, the day starts one way and ends another. I was hoping to get more time in to see people. But then I somehow forgot my kid’s birthday. Double-booked a few friends. Or just ended up not being able to make things work. The communicator in me is disappointed I can’t manage to get back to all the messages. I know you understand but I also want you to know that I don’t just read them. I sit with a lot of your messages – they truly mean more than you know. It started off with both kids being sick, in addition to myself (sniffle and a…
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Chemo Eve
Life never turns out like I plan anymore. ? This cold kicked my ass a bit. Spent a lot of time resting in hopes I’d at least make it to Evelyn’s birthday dinner. I did! It meant fewer dates which was a bummer. This happens often anyway. There’s always at least one reschedule and the old “my kids are sick, do you want to risk it?” I’m worried that they might turn me away because I’m at the end of the cold. And I’m scared of delays. Can’t control either of these things but I manage to worry about them anyway. Anyway. Evelyn got what she wanted, which was Hyvee…
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Chemotherapy: Round 1
Today started out like a lot of days: my alarm didn’t go off, and instead of getting up at 7, we were up at 8. We rallied quickly and made it EARLY. First up is the blood draw. I opted for my arm – the nurses were very curious about this. The nurse at Mercy where I got my port placed told me I should do an arm draw while I still can, due to the port only being able to take so many pokes. Well, we’re not gonna opt for that again. We waited a bit for the labs to come back. Then around 10 we got into our…
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Chemo Round 1: Day 1
Yes, I am tracking rounds and days. I like tracking things. This is why I had a great excuse to buy some fountain-pen-friendly notebooks and soft leather covers that I just NEEDED for tracking symptoms. 😉 Anything that helps me track is probably a good idea. I do have multiple ways so that I can track them on-the-go. Symptoms Slept pretty well, woke up feeling pretty normal. Coffee wasn’t as delicious as expected. Water is really what my mouth seems to crave. I did rinse once with that dry-mouth rinse. Not sure if it helped or not. Drinking lots of water seems to alleviate that, at least for now. My…
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Day 2 After Chemo
All things considered, I’m doing pretty well. Heartburn/acid reflux seems to be the worst of it, next to the jaw pain (yep!). I’ll call the nurses tomorrow and see if I should just take OTC meds for this or get an ongoing prescription. I do have a bit of neuropathy in my left arm. Moving about seems to do the trick for now. Same thing for fuzziness – I do feel kinda dizzy if I’m stationary too long. I am tired and a little slow, but I did manage to check things off my list today. Drinking lots of water seems to help for dry mouth and hunger pains. Food…
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Toxicity Check
I’ve been hanging in there. It’s been kind of a rough week but I’ve been mostly on top of my symptoms. Today I went in for a toxicity check – yeah, they want to make sure the chemo isn’t killing me. Got blood taken from the port, which is a HELL of a lot better than from the arm. Had an enjoyable chat with the lovely nurse and then waited for a while to meet with another lovely nurse, who prescribed me a few things and then set the next round. Now let me impart the wisdom that the chemo nurse gave me: LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR. There are a…
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Looking Back at Week 1
Mental Health I haven’t been as forthcoming about the first week as I might have been with other things. Not like I need to disclose this, but I pride myself on being open and honest. But then there’s the part of me who still likes to keep the dirty laundry hidden. It’s not fun to talk about all the bad things all the time, even if I am feeling bad more often than not. My body going through chemotherapy is one thing. Getting cancer didn’t change what was going on before the diagnosis. Those stressors and issues are still there. And sometimes, they exacerbate one another. When I’m in pain,…
