Looking a tad woozy, aren't I? Yes, I'm well into my infusions in this picture. But LOOK! I spy peach fuzz hair growth. The only problem is there are still some bald spots, so I am thinking of having my sister take the dog clippers to me to kind of even things out again.
I have the feeling that the two main bald spots will never grow hair again. No worries, I'm thinking I'll keep my hair very, very short from now on.
To the right there is my bag of Camptosar. My oncology nurse today was Anne, and she's been there since the beginning, back a year ago. She's pretty concerned about how I'm doing since this is the most difficult regimen I have had. I told her it was getting a bit more trying with each round, but this was round five, and I have very few of the major worrisome side effects. One more to go...one more to go!
My asthma was a bit problematic this morning, due to the high humidity from all the recent storm activity. People kept commenting on my breathing; the nurses and even a couple of other chemo patients. Oy!
Well, I'm still a bit blecchy, so I'm off to have a little rest. But I did eat a nice salad for lunch. Isn't it nice to have cravings, for a change, that are GOOD for you? :D
Love to all, keep safe, be well and drink lots of water. :)
Lots of very social and loud chemo patients here today. Unfortunately, when people can't hear well, or live with someone that doesn't hear well, they tend to speak very VERY loudly. They are giving me a headache.
Cancer has definitely given me patience. Either that, or I am secretly lamenting my lack of a concealed weapon. Just kidding, mostly.
I'll post more later. I'm off to find a weapon.
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Now that I am home, where life is much quieter and more relaxing, and because there were no weapons to be found, damn the luck, I can continue. :D
I had a new oncology nurse today, and I liked her quite a bit, but I couldn't read her name on her badge, although it started with a C. She had a little trouble accessing my port. Somehow, I think it says something about me, that I didn't mind the pain of the miss, as much as I minded the very loud, very obnoxious senior citizens. Hmmmm.
And besides, what is another bruise? I have the black hand of death thing going on from yesterday's visit with the phlebotamist. Third stick was the charm, though, as usual.
Oh how I hate Atropine. But I think I probably should appreciate it for the reason it is given. It's just that it makes me dizzy, screws with my ability to focus, and makes me irritable. Thus my reaction to the decibel-blasting geriatric set.
So, I have to start my chemo pills (Xeloda) again, with dinner. I have heard reports of people saying my blog has been about food quite a bit recently, but if you follow the pattern, that's only on my chemo off week. Yeah, once I get my appetite back, I do tend to enjoy food again. But for now, my chemo week ON, I tolerate it. Gotta have something in my stomach to cushion the blow of the pills, but I do not actually enjoy it this week. You should see how my weight fluctuates between the two weeks! :D
Have a great week, all. Love, hugs and kisses!
Today was the first time, for this round of chemo, that I felt like eating! My sisters made me a slice of french toast and I also relished some lovely bacon. Who doesn't enjoy a nibble of bacon now and then? I sure do, and I really did this morning.
I didn't eat much for lunch, but I made some veggies and brown rice for dinner, simmered in a sweet potato and chipotle organic soup. Oh, it was so good! Jane went out and grabbed one of the newly grown Serrano chilies, and a good bit of the black opal basil, and we tossed that in, with some red bell pepper, grey Mexican squash, zucchini, roma tomatoes, and I finished it with a little garlic infused olive oil. Ummmm, it was quite satisfying. I am not eating lots, but I am eating, and that's a very good sign. Thursday I was sure I was going to die, and frankly, I almost wanted to, and today, I can think happy thoughts, eat, and mostly agree that I can get through this round of chemo.
It's back to work, virtually, for me tomorrow. And thank gods for the ability to keep one's mind occupied with doing something responsible and important. Being productive and useful definitely helps keep me going. Dr. Ramaswamy, my PCP, asked me on Friday how my mental health was keeping up through this, and I told him that of course, I cried when Dr. Fastenberg told me about the Adrenal tumor and how it had multiplied in size, but I also told him that once I cry, and get it out of my system, I'm pretty resilient. But believe me, if I for one minute think I'm going to need some help emotionally, I have lots of resources available to me.
One of those is the oncology nurse that calls me frequently to check up on me. This is one of my work benefits. She convinced me that I really did need to start taking pain killers for the Neulasta problem, and we discussed how to prevent the same agony after my next round of chemo. Her name is Beth, and she's in Minnesota, and she's fantastic! She also helps me keep my prognosis and treatments in perspective.
I was sorry to read that Harmon Killebrew is ending his esophageal cancer treatments, but I can certainly understand such a decision. I admire his courage. Safe to say, I think that decision is still quite a way off for me. I still have a fantastic quality of life. One of the other things Dr. Ramaswamy and I talked about was my home situation. He's thrilled that I have such great care-givers in my sisters; that there is always someone here with me, someone to get me to treatments when I can barely move, someone to make sure I eat, and most of all someone that loves me. Oh I have that in spades, folks. :)
So, tomorrow starts a new week, and things are looking brighter, and I'm happy, and the pain is settling into my lower extremeties, and not all over the place; I hear that's a sign it's almost over... YAY! And if the Neulasta works, and I can do my chemo on schedule, .. then yes, even that horrible Thursday from hell was worth it.
Now, love to all; be kind and make someone smile.
Tomorrow is my Herceptin treatment over at Ironwood Cancer and Research Center. I look forward to seeing the ladies at the front desk, and the oncology nurses. I've missed them! That place had become my second home for months.
I've not been feeling very well since the weekend. In the mornings, I'm having some peripheral neuropathy in my fingers. I'm checking my glucose and I don't think it's high enough for that. And I noticed today that it was much worse in the cold, and once I got into my office, it essentially was gone. So I definitely have to tell them about that tomorrow.
I kept dreaming about my nephew last night; just normal dreams, thank the gods. He wasn't IN them, but they were all about him. Hard to explain, I know, but it was more about how he affected people. Or conversations about him, but he never appeared. This is probably due to the fact that I haven't seen him since my brother's funeral in 2004.
Oh gosh, going back and forth to work has gotten a LOT easier, now that I don't have to lug that laptop around. Boeing is always so good to me, in the person of my manager, Randy. He truly does believe in accommodation. Thank you, boss-person! :)
As for tomorrow, I'll be telecommuting until it's time to leave for the Cancer Center, and then I'll continue when I get back. I could TAKE my laptop and theoretically work from there, but I'm thinking it might be dangerous to play with numbers under the influence of that initial bag of Benadryl. :D I should be fine by the time I get home, though, so no worries.
Yesterday my sister and I made a really awesome risotto for dinner. It was arborio rice and an equal portion of barley. Good carbs! :-0 Talk about a comfort food! We don't even have childhood memories of it, since it wasn't in my mom's repertoire, but it's still comfort food in that it's warm and creamy and toothsome and delicious! And it involved Irish Whiskey and Parmesan... 'nuff said.
I'll be taking my netbook with me tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have more to say then, but for now, my love to all; keep warm and safe and eat some chocolate!
Here I am again, in my favorite place in the chemo center, working on this blog post. My port has been accessed, and the Benedryl is coming onboard. Oh joy. :)
Jane is sitting here with me, playing 'super scribblenauts' on her Nintendo DS. Thank the gods for electronic ways of passing time. Today's oncology nurse is Tracy. She's a sweetie, as are they all. I can't eat much before chemo, so I drank a Glucerna for breakfast. I'll try to eat a decent lunch later.
Wendy and Dean must be up in the air by now. I'm so happy they are coming! Oh, I should take a picture! My hair is so straight right now. I wonder if this, too, is some sort of side effect.
Will it stay straight? It's just so weird. I've had very short hair before, and it was still full of curls, so I'm not sure if my curls will be back or not. :) Oh well, if my curls do not return, it's a fair trade off: Curls for some extra time on earth? Deal!
I think that's it for this post. The Benadryl is really kicking in...and I apologize in advance for any typos and weirdness :D
Keep warm, safe and happy. Live long and prosper!
Well, it's Donna the oncology nurse this week. I like her a lot. Oh man, it's Benadryl coming on-board, and ooolala, I'm all groggy again.
Anywho, we're doing the Heceptin today. How exciting; we're going from 3 1/2 hours of chemo to 4 hour and 15 minutes. I don't even want to something I LIKE for 4 hours straight. :D
Drinking some coffee and my iced water. We're not a full house here at the moment, but I would say that there are at least 25 folks here. I ran into a lady whose husband works at Boeing; her name is Darita, and I'm spelling it phonetically, since I didn't ask her for the real spelling. We were talking about the new insurance co-pays and prescription coverage.
OH, while I was having breakfast, watching CNN, a Veteran's Day commercial ran, and I watched it, and thought.. eh, McDonalds. Imagine my chagrin when the big BOEING logo appeared at the end. But, uh, it was a lovely commercial.
Man, look at all those bags of poison I get! Hazardous materials out the wazoo!
OK, that's it for now... maybe I'll add more later.. and gods know, I'll be here long enough.
Hugs and kisses!
