Remember to: Pat yourself on the front then pat yourself on the back

Made it through the latest round. I would say this was the longest doctors appointment I ever had. We arrived at the physician office around 9 AM and left around 1:45. I have a portable DVD player and I was glad to have movies to watch. They shoot you up with a bunch of Benadryl so you get a little sleepy before they start the chemo drug. Glad they did that because I was a little anxious about starting this new treatment. This drug, Taxol, was much easier. I did not have the nausea, but it does have it own little treat of bone/joint pains, insomnia., fatigue and night-sweats. I was pretty achy on Saturday and Sunday. Today is the first day I did not take any meds for pain relief.

Well the big match up between ECU and WVU is on Saturday and has been moved up to a Noon EST start so they can televise it on ESPN2, which means an early 9AM start here on the west coast. May my Pirates play hard and fierce! It is always an exciting game.

GO PIRATES!

Made it through the last round, was easier then the third round. Don’t get me wrong still struggling with nausea and just feeling like crap but day three after chemo was not as bad as expected. I think a little adrenaline was put into play when watching ECU vs. Virginia Tech. Normally I would have been jumping up and down like crazy but I still got some rush as I laid curled up in bed watching.

The next round of chemo will be a different drug. Taxol will be provided via infusion and the drip takes about three hours. I had a hard enough time sitting there for and hour and half now I will be their even longer. My physician has indicated this is not as hard on the old blood system so I hope to beat some of the fatigue with the second half of the treatment. Scott will be taking off next week and can be there for the first long treatment.

We have been watching a fire that is occurring at Henry Coe State Park. On Monday we could see the huge plume of smoke and in the evening the flames could be seen on the ridge of the mountains.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday. The days just seem to run all together now.

Had and exciting day today, I actually left the house for some eats. Wanted a beer but just did not think I could would be able to hold my liquor, literally. It is really going to be hard to start off football season without any alcohol.

Odd side effects taking hold. Mouth is becoming more tender, running nose and the worst is the tearing eyes. I have to keep two tissues and remember which is which, nose tissue or eye tissue.

I still have my eyebrows and eyelashes but they eyebrows are thinning. My leg hair is thinning and I will be glad to have nice smooth legs. My arm hair is the only thing not be effected at this time.

Not looking forward to the next installment but at least I have a few more days that I will feel somewhat normal.

Take care all and GO PIRATES!

Yuck, this one was much harder. Taking longer to bounce back. Still exhausted today. Just need to manage my days a little different. I am now a professional napper.

I have my antibiotics in hand and ready if I get a fever this Friday. I am not going out anywhere this week to limit my exposure.

This might become the norm. Fever Friday’s. Fell ill Thursday evening and back to the doctor on Friday. Back on antibiotics for 7 days but I am feeling much better today. Thursday evening was hard to get through. Guess I was out of it when I got up and left the lights on. All I can remember was having a dream out Last Comic Standing. At least I was having fun in my dream.

This might be the norm, not sure if we should change the treatment dose or just expect an infection to occur and plan on antibiotics for the next two treatments. The NP and doctor are going to discuss for my next treatment.

Scott did shave my head on Tuesday. I could no longer stand all the hair in my hands when I took a shower. Looking at that drain was dreadful. When the thought of taking a shower became burdensome I knew it had to go. Scott and I are planning a photo shoot tomorrow to give you the seasons new looks.

Our backyard neighbors are having a party this afternoon and they have a live band, unfortunately it is Mariachi and we were not invited.

Take care

Pam

My WBC recovered enough for me to go through my second round of chemotherapy. It is just amazing how the body can recover so quickly.

Went in Thursday for the second round and this was much easier. Did not experience the back pain from the booster shot. I just slept through the three days. Soar throat is popping up again, will call the doctor on Monday. I do not want to experience another infection.

My hair is starting to fall out and it is everywhere. I have my lint brush in tow. I am ready to shave it off. I should have some new pictures for the next log.

I was fine and then I was down. Soar throat and a fever. Off to the doctor to check my blood -WBC count very low. For us in the medical .9 WBC is pretty low. No wonder a soar throat feels like is razors. I wanted to make sure it was not thrush.

Slept the entire day but did get up to get food in my stomach. Needed some strength to fight this infection off. I must have been crazy when I pick this crap up from Trader Joe’s. Protein with Pizzzaz -thought this would be good for me when I need some high calorie food with protein with little fat. Whey, soy with fruit juices it was like drinking flavored cement.

As you can tell I am back on my feet today and plan to take it easy for the next couple of days. Hopefully my blood counts will be back up enough to get the next round of chemo on Thursday.

Pam

Made it through the first round. Saturday was the worst day, the booster shot kicked in and had some bone pain in the lower back. Guess the old bone marrow was on overdrive. I feel for all of you that experience lower back pain, it was debilitating.

Doing a 100% better today, not good enough to take the dog for a walk this morning but I could move around more freely this afternoon.

During this process we have had a bathroom remodeling occurring. They will be done on Tuesday and I will be glad to have the people and dust out of the house. HTTP://kitchen-remodeling-pictures.com/bathroom-remodel/

Take care all.

The injection part was not to bad since I had the mediport. The nurse however used a shorter needle the first time and it did not work so she pulled out he big gun. Poke it in there and we were ready to go. Put in some steroids and anti nausea medicine first then the red stuff (Adriamycin) then the Cytoxan). Then I was out the door for a relaxing evening.

Managed from first night well. Only up three times to relieve myself since we have to drink a load of water for the first 48 hours and urinate at least every one to two hours.

I did mange to get in a couple cups of coffee this morning and take the dog for a short walk. Then it was time for another nap.

I have to go in to the oncologist again today to get an immunity booster shot.

Doing well so far.

Pam