I think I am done with this blog . . .
So, the good news is that I am done with writing about my cancer treatment because I am done for good with the disease as it applied to my nut . . .
So, the good news is that I am done with writing about my cancer treatment because I am done for good with the disease as it applied to my nut . . .
Hi Everyone! I wanted to give you a quick update until Rick has the energy (& time) to complete his chronicling of the journey.
I found it encouraging that someone who had a tough go of it was giving me so much encouragement. Nancy-- You are a trooper and I have it easy comparatively, so congratulations on fighting such a good fight and making life as a survivor so fulfilling! You are an inspiration and I hope to keep my positive attitude like you as I go through this journey!
I am about to leave for the beginnings of my second cycle. I feel pretty good today, but am having some digestive issues as a result of the antibiotics I am on. I had to start a cycle of powerful antibiotics because as my white cell counts drropped with the last round of chemotherapy, I developed an infection around the entry point to my Hickman catheter. My chest had a little redness in the area of the incision, and my lymph nodes under my arm and in my neck became a little inflamed. So, prior to having a fever and a visit to the emergency room, I got the drugs and have been fine since then. It has been quite slow to eliminate the infection (compared to my normal ability to fight infection), but it does seem to be progressing in the right direction. I will say that these antibiotics (cephlaxin) are amazingly stinky. I feel like I am eating a fart pill every time I have one . . .
It has been a nice week. I worked a few days and have been the recipient of more generosity. Sarah's mother was in town to help last week and my mother came into town to do her part on friday. It has been a miraculous tag team effort to make our house normal in this flurry of strange happenings. My friend Nate is also coming out next thursday, and this will be great since it is at the tail end of my last full week of heavy Chemo. To top it off, this is also Nate's 35th birthday. I am honored that he has chosen to spend it with me in leiu of something fun and exciting. I expect our level of activity will include some movie watching and me sleeping a bit, so I am not really sure what to say except "thanks!"
All was pretty uneventful today--- I chatted with the doctor and found that my blood counts (white and red) are expectedly down as a result of treatment. I suppose the only interesting thing about this is that I have a skin infection and have had some steroid induced acne in several places. Sarah picked up my antibiotics at the pharmacy today and I should be back to normal in a few days. Also, since I have shaved my hair, some hair has fallen out of places other than my head-- i found out that this is normal, but found it quite surprising when it happened. Everyone is different and may see different results from treatment, but I will say I was surpised at the location on me (use your imagination). I suppose that this is further evidence that Chemotherapy is downright strange!
It happened again!! I was really tired but found it impossible to fall asleep again-- to make things worse, I was getting up this AM to go on a bike ride with a neighbor, so I got about 2 hours of sleep again. Later today when i tried to take a nap, that didn't work either. hopefully I will sleep a little better tonight! when I am this sleep deprived, i feel like i am falling apart a little. My throat is sore, and I feel a lymph node getting a little inflamed . . .
Sarah and I have been married for 5 great years, and we are going out sans kids to celebrate tonight. A great friend of Sarah from the gym is going to watch Jack and Hannah tonight, so it will be a great bit of alone time for us.
I had slept really well throughout this whole process . . .
Today was a surprisingly tiring day! I was feeling pretty good all weekend, and then I went in for today's treatment . . .