Finally over the hump of the heavy duty induction chemo. Overall I must say I have weathered it quite well. Main complaints are fatigue and everything tastes like it has too much baking soda in it leaving a taste in my mouth. I’m tolerating water much better than before and my labs this cycle are far better. I think it’s because we went without the cisplatin. Unfortunately I will be getting a weekly dose of it with radiation but it’s less than half the dose of before so it should affect me less. I just wish I could get my heart rate below 100. Hopefully this week it will happen. The medically at home people call me every time to make sure I’m feeling ok. Of course I am.
The best thing is that all of my sinus symptoms are gone. No congestion, pain or facial numbness. Gone. And the ringing in my ears is far less than it was before. Everyone says I am quiet when I sleep now and I have to say it’s probably why I feel so good. Had a really nice dinner with Maureen last night. Wish we could get through a meal without missing dad so much but it’s not going to happen any time soon. Especially after driving by Mahoney’s all decorated for Christmas. Getting a tree won’t be the same this year.
Patrick and I had a craft day this week. I had the energy to cut all the wood. He painted and John did the screwing together to add Peace to the front yard. It is in addition to the Wreath made by Leanne and the Peitzsch’s rainbow pallet that we painted our sayings on. I need to get lights for it next. I have one more sheet of plywood and I’m not afraid to use it. Trying to decide how. Patrick says we have enough rainbows on the front yard. I think there can never be enough. If it looked like Willy Wonkas chocolate factory it still wouldn’t be enough color for me :)
11/17
It’s Nora’s 21st bday. Hard to believe.
I want to share this video she made this week from Alaska which says so much about how she enjoys each moment. Her dream is to be a flight nurse. Must have something to do with wanting to fly like her childhood bestie Peter Pan.
Yesterday I had appointments at the Hospital with Dr Clark. Looks like all of my radiation appointments are set up into December and I’ll begin at 930 on Monday. They drew my labs. Luckily everything looked amazing. No problems with my kidneys which is huge. I am pretty anemic so Dr Clark said her prefers my crit over 30 for radiation and all the iron/red meat won’t get me there since I’m trending downwards. So up to infusion for a unit of packed red blood cells. I have to say today I feel much more energized. Doing my vital signs for medically home, my heart rate was 77 which it hasn’t been in weeks (usually over 100 at rest)
So maybe it was exactly what I needed.
Got some disappointing facts from him though. He made a graph based on how I will expect to feel. He said the last three weeks and at least three weeks following radiation I’ll feel my worst. Basically he said the first third of treatment is better than you would expect. The second third is exactly what you would expect and the third third is the worst. And it gets worse after radiation is finished and up to a few weeks after. But patience will get to the other side. He said to expect burns, trouble swallowing and pain. So it’s good to know I’ll be ready and better to know I’m forging through this and will be on the other side. I’m totally prepared to feel shitty. That’s expected. I just want to be able to do normal things. Like work. There is only so much TV to be tolerated and reading is tough when you feel exhausted. But again. I got this. Nothing to do for us. We are totally in good shape. At least I’m not missing out on any holiday celebrations this year! “Nothing to see here” lol
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