Supposed to be #4

We arrived at the hospital today anticipating my 4th treatment; I got weighed, they took my vitals, accessed my port, then I was into see Dr. Basche. The first thing she said was that my eyes looked tired, and I agreed telling her I feel like they look withdrawn and glazed. Then she mentioned my nutrifill (sp?) levels - or the white blood cell count - was low (1.2, where they like it over 1.5). These being my first line of defense against fever and infection, and the fact that it's going around my house with Tori and now Doug, she suggested we skip today's treatment and do it next week when hopefully the levels will be back up.

My weight was down 6 lbs. from my last visit (to 123), with that along with the dryness I'm feeling (hands, mouth, eyes), she wants me to drink even more liquids than I already am, and increase my calories by way of perhaps adding vanilla ice cream into my Boost nutrional drink, and adding fruit/vegetable juices. I have to up my use of Imodium too. I've been eating every meal, but I'm suppose they've been smaller because my tastebuds are only at about 50% so nothing tastes "great" at the moment. Since I already had my port in, and I was dehydrated, the nurses infused a half quart of saline. It just took a little over a half hour.

In a way I was relieved because I didn't need to spend 3 hours in the chair today and that'll give me another week to continue feeling stronger. But on the other hand it strings it out another week at the end, and I don't get to open a Sharon-gift for another week. I DID ask the doctor hopefully, "are there ever any cases where someone doesn't have to have their last treatment?" The reply was "occasionally if they're not able to handle it we would skip the Oxaliplaten (3 hr. drip), and just send them home with the 5FU (fanny pack of meds). I was just looking ahead and wondering... hoping.

As good as I felt after leaving, Doug and I decided to check out the new outdoor area at the Park Meadows Mall. We strolled in the 60° sunshine past stores and fountains as the smell of the restaurants filled the air. We stopped in to a New Orleans-type fish restaurant who was all decked out for Fat Tuesday. Doug had a catfish Poboy and I had a grilled fish taco and brought the remaining 3 home for leftovers. They talked us into fried pickles. Anyone ever have those? Amazing!! The waiter sent me home with 3 strings of mardi gras beads, and ALL I had to do was ask for them. Another 10 minutes sitting on a bench drinking in the sun's vitamin D, and we headed home feeling like we just played hookie from school.

Between #3 & #4

This round was significantly rougher than before. Thursday when we went in to unplug I felt like I was running at 50%, so the nurse hooked me up to a saline bag which ran for an hour. Once home I slept for 2 1/2 hours, which I usually never do. I couldn't get up and around much, but I did get to open my biweekly treat from Sharon, this time was the story of Artemus and a wood nymph fairy. Friday my eyes were very puffy, and hands were tingling and swollen, and again didn't have much energy, it was tough to work and feel like I was doing it accurately. I called the nurse to see if next time I could get less of something so I wouldn't feel so bad, and she said this is just the nature of chemo and that it is cumulative and this is just what I'll have to deal with. She suggested I come in to have my blood counts checked, but I declined thinking I just need to wait it out. Later on I managed to get to an acupuncture treatment and within a few minutes of leaving there Doug told me I'm getting the sparkle back in my eyes. Saturday was better, running more like 80% now and the swelling has gone down, I got a bit more work done and baked a batch of cookies for Valentine's Day, and after a mid afternoon acupuncture treatment I felt even better. It's early Sunday morning now, and it should be a pretty good day knowing it can just get better for the next 9 days. I've got lots to catch up on with work, but no appointments this next week will help.

Our continued thanks for the cards, well wishes, prayers and meals brought by. And the gift of all pampering items from my mom and sisters. They've been so appreciated!

Round 3

Today went smoother than usual, got into the lab to access the port, draw blood and do vitals very quickly. Then the doctor was on time and felt good about my blood counts, my platelets were a little low but still in the acceptable range, so she'll be watching that. She also explained that the later rounds of chemo, though they'll get a little rougher, won't be to the extent that I went through when I did the chemo and radiation simultaneously last fall. That was good to hear. She asked if I was experiencing diarreah, and I said I can't tell because of the illiostomy. With getting up twice a night, she recommended an Imodium before bed and that could slow things down for overnight and I'd get a better night's sleep. I'm all for that!

Again 3 hours+ in the chair, I was able to do work on my laptop and some paperwork, but also had great conversations with people going through the same thing, some with not as good prognoses but still amazing attitudes - which I'm finding to be a common thread, and vital to a good outcome. I got the 5FU pack attached again, and was out around 1pm.

I felt a little "foggy" right after the treatment, which one of the long-time veteran's there said "Oh yeah, join the club." And the tingling fingers started as we left the hospital, but it's not near as bad as before. Probably because of the extra vitamins I've been taking, as well as the tonic water (with quinine), plus Doug drove me to my afternoon acupuncture appointment where I got an extra 4 boosts of Vitamin B12, and his insistence that I take it easy tonight.
Which I did....

Between #2 & #3

Thanks for checking in... much like before the tingling sensation is worst right after treatment, but lessens within a few days, the fatigue gets me 3-5 days after but then I slowly gain strength back, the weight loss happened again getting me down to 125, I've only gained 1 pound of that back so far but there's still 5 more days before my next session.

The new thing I've noticed is the dryness - in my mouth, on my skin and in my sinuses, so I've tried to drink plenty of water, use a great dry skin creme called Eucerine (actually the Equate brand, it's less than half the price!), and am using the netty pot daily. If you're not familiar with it, it's a sinus rinse that everyone should be doing anyway to clear things out regularly, it even helps with allergies. A netty pot is found at health food/vitamin stores and looks like a small ceramic tea pot. Fill a glass 2 cup measuring cup with filtered water, heat in microwave for a minute, stir in 1/2 tsp. sea salt and stir to dissolve. Pour half into the netty pot, kneal or lean over your bathroom sink - but first get a supply of tissue handy! Insert the spout into one nostril and start pouring, positioning your head down and tilted so that it eventually comes out the other nostril, allow the whole cup to empty, then blow like crazy, and then do the other side with the rest of the water. You will never feel a sinus cleansing as good as this.

It's funny, before this whole cancer thing with the illiostomy and the port, I remember thinking this netty-potting is the oddest thing I'll ever do. Not any more... it's no big deal and very good for you.