Geez, I really fell off of the wagon . . . . no posting for six weeks or so.
Well, it did give me time to get through my first chemo.
It was kind of nervous exciting as the tiem for the chemo apporached. My good friend Barbara went with me. I don't know exactlywhat I was expecting, but it was more than what happened..
The nurse gave me benadryl and compazine and then the "TC" meds. It all went into a nice little IV in my elbow. I got a little light headed but other than that felt fine.
It's kind of strange. The purpose of chemo is to take you to the edge of death to kill the cancer and then bring you back. Now, my cancer is not that severe (caught early) so I have chemo light, so I'm not near the edge, just hanging back in the shadows. But even so, I felt pretty darn good for being poisoned. It's gonna make me re-think any mysteries I write where someone dies by poison.
The evening of my chemo many friends and family enquired how I was and gratefully I could tell them I was fine. But the next couple of days were not the best. I just felt crappy. Puny. Not good.
Then, day 7 and all was fine again.
And it's been a good thing. Because Warren became ill with a NASTY inner ear virus that literally knocked him on his butt every day for weeks. His head and arms became covered with scabs, looked like he was in a car accident. Eventually he migrated to a walker and arm/elbow pads that mitigated his falls. And I became expert at following him through the house, noting that he was tipping, and then catching and lowering him to the ground. It was a scary time for both of us. And today he's close to 95% cured. Yay! Now I can be the sickie.
So, anyway, back to the chemo. The second Tuesday after the first chemo, hair started falling out. I tried to get an appointment with my hairdresser, but she had committments to clients with hair, so I ended up at costcutters. Good enough. Hit me with the number 3 blade please, this stuff is falling out everytime I touch it. The young woman did and I discovered a lot of salt and pepper hair under than sheaf of platinum blonde I've been carrying around for years. Hmmm. Wonder how that's goig to end up when this is over?
Today, I have about 25% hair on my head. I wash my head each day (although I am saving money on conditioner) to help it fall out. Maybe tomorrow I'll go back to the costcutter woman and just have her shae it all off. I try to remember to wear a scarf when I go outside, but sometimes . . .. I wonder if it's worse to forget your eyebrows or scarf? Not that my eyebrows are gone yet, but I never did have that many.
I also have gotten a free Brazilian out of this. Hmm. I had to explain to Mom what that meant exactly, and there was a brief moment of WHAT???!!! followed by, of course. Chemo just kills hair follicles. I'll probably end up saving money on mascara at some point too. But I'll reinvest in eyeliner.
The last two weeks of chemo were fine. I had energy and got into cooking and gained a few pounds. Not my plan, but what the heck. So this second round, that was this last Tuesday, was not as anxiety -ridden as the first. Had a different nurse, different infusion set, different friend, but same benadryl, compazine, and "TC." Turns out the benadryl makes me a real chatty cathy. So my friends Cindy had brought things to work on and I didn't let her get a lick of work done. No, we were on a girl date and I was in charge of entertainment. I think she liked it because she didn't have to do much except smile and laugh at my dumb jokes now and then.
But overall I had the same experience. Poisoning is ok when you have lots of compazine and benadryl on board. And my doctors do believe in compazine. Thankfully I had not had any nausea. Yay! But I have had heartburn. Last night I thought I could finish off Warren Ultimate Cheesburger. Oh, I paid for tht all night . . .now I know why some people think they're having a heart attack when they have severe heart burn. It is nasty.
Overall I am doing well. My blood tests have all been fine (good red and white blood cell counts), the episodes of pain from the white blood cell growth meds have been few and easily controlled with tylenol.
This cancer thing is still hard for me to believe. I never felt sick until I started getting treated. Hmmm. Each day I give thanks for having access to the meds that can keep me well.
That's all for now, more later.
