Thank You!

Thank you to everyone that called or emailed to check on me due to my previous update. I feel loved :) This is very quick, but I wanted to make sure you all knew that I am feeling much better now. While I don't get that down too often, it does happen. And when it happens, I just tell myself that I'm entitled to and usually by the next day, I'm all happy again. Ready to tackle round #5 on Monday!

Tired

Today isn't such a great day. I'm tired! If you don't want to read about someone complaining, you might as well stop reading ;)

• I'm tired, just plain tired and exhausted from the lack of sleep. I haven't really had a good night of sleep since I started chemo
• I'm tired of dealing with cancer & chemo, and there's still radiations to come
• I'm tired of dealing with a child that can't handle this situation by showing it in forms of tantrums & moodiness. I have had enough too, my patience & understanding is running low right now
• I'm tired of my taste buds acting funny or just plain being gone. I want to taste & enjoy my food again
• I'm tired of all the little aches & pains. I can't even empty my dishwasher without my hip starting to hurt or stand up for too long before my hip hurts
• I'm tired of my constant bloody nose
• I'm tired of the lymphedema in my foot. After 3.5 years, I FINALLY had it under control. My foot is back to being huge, maybe worst than it was before. The skin is tight, uncomfortable and it hurts
• I'm tired of the fatigue
• I'm tired of not having energy or desire to do much
• I'm tired of gaining weight with every treatment due to the steroid. I've gained almost 5 lbs with each round of chemo, my clothes don't fit and I'm about ready to spend the next few months in sweat pants! I'm really being careful right now, I've cut down on my comfort milk shakes but the steroids are still doing their trick and I'm getting bigger by the minute :(
• I'm tired of being stucked in my house, having to be careful about being near people JUST in case I get a bad infection. What a worse time to go through chemo than a bad Flu Season!
• I'm tired of being a germ freak, this isn't me
• I'm tired of not knowing what to expect, each treatment has acted differently so far
• I'm tired of being poked by needles

I know! Lovely update! I'm just plain physically and emotionally exhausted right now. Maybe it's because I would already be done with chemo if I only had to do 4 treatments versus 6? I don't know, I really should just sit in front of a chick flick and get a good cry!

Nose Drips!

You don't really know how useful your nose hair are until you start loosing them! My nose is just dripping all the time, quite annoying.

This past treatment has been fairly easy as far as side effects, although I have been overly more tired. I haven't been sleeping well since chemo started. I typically wake up either sweating or freezing. I wake up a lot & toss a lot. I'm really looking forward to a good night of sleep when this is all over.

My Angels

Back in November, I heard of this organization called Chemo Angels. Once I found out when I would be starting chemo, I filled their applications and I was quickly matched with 2 Angels, Suzanne & Cathy. I am so thankful for both of them, they have been mailing me cards, cheerful notes and small goodies. Both have been a real blessing to me. It's the small things in life :)

Once treatment is over and that I can move on with my life, I do plan on becoming someone's Angel. I think it's a great program. If you have some extra time and would like to make someone smile, sign up and become someone's Angel. If you don't have time, there's other ways you can help out Chemo Angels.

Disturbed Taste Buds

My taste buds are acting up! The Saturday after chemo, they're always acting up. Well, this time around, for a change, they went crazy on Friday and worse than they've ever been. I can't eat meat, any meat! It just taste horrible, so yesterday, I had Lipton soup for lunch and Kraft Dinner for dinner. That was my gourmet day ;) It's slowly getting better so I should be able to being back to eating normal in a couple of days.

Other my my taste buds, this week seems to be going well.

We're now half through the school year with Jerome. The books I've been using is divided in 10 sessions. Jerome took the test for the 5th session this morning. He's doing great and we're so proud of him. He will be 6 in April and he can already read in English & in French! I'm impressed, he's getting better everyday. Felix is patiently waiting for his turn to start school, we'll start working on his reading soon.

Clear Bone Scan :)

My bone scan came back completely normal, so that was wonderful news this week.

I'm sorry I didn't update with this result sooner but this round knocked me good! I got really sick from the bone scan, didn't know it could cause that! Then the fatigue stuck around until Friday this time. Otherwise, it has been fairly easy so far.

We did get to go on a date yesterday from Valentine's Day, our first one since chemo started. But thanks to my crummy taste buds, we skipped the restaurant and ended bowling. My poor joints told me 2 games was enough and we had to call it quits so we finished our date over a yummy McDonald Sundae :)

Half Way Through Chemo :)

Today was my 4th round. I'm officially half way through my chemo. Let's see what kind of fun side effects I get this time around ;) The chemo room wasn't too full today, it was nice not too see so many faces, although, more younger folks which was a little sad.

I went to my "before chemo check-up" last Tuesday, a little too early. My oncologist said that my White Blood Count (WBC) was too low for chemo, but since I had 6 more days to go, to just re-do the lab work before chemo and it should be fine, but he was considering giving me the Neulasta shot that helps boost your WBC to prevent infections when you hit your lowest point. So far, I had done without, it has bad side effects and I don't want to put more chemicals into my body that what is necessary. I re-did the lab works today and my counts are back to normal, he did visit me to my lovely chemo chair to ask if I wanted to take the shot, my WBC had dropped to 600 (normal is 4,300 to 10,800 - mine is usually +/- 9000). I chose against it given my counts are back to normal and he was OK with my decision. Hadn't I gone that early for my check-up, we wouldn't have known it had dropped so low, it probably does every round. I'm glad to know that little piece of information, White Blood Cells are what helps you fight an infection, which means when I'm going through my nadir where they're at their lowest (day 5-14) I really do need to be careful about being around sick people, it is Flu Season after all!

Now, something is up with my back! I started getting this back pain on my shoulder blade the day after my last chemo, so it's been 3 weeks. I tried a muscle relaxer and it didn't help at all. I've pulled muscles before, I've had several knots in my back before, doesn't feel like that. I had an X-Ray of my shoulder blade last week and it came back clear. He had me panicked for a bit, I found out he was looking for metastasis (cancer spreading) to my bones! Of course, I understand they need to put specific codes for insurance purposes and his suspicions are low, but better safe than sorry. I still need to have a bone scan tomorrow to be on the safe side but we're expecting it to come back clear as well. Although, the pain is still there and I'm not sure what else to do? Could be a torn muscle, tendon? Could be lymphedema? I guess we'll wait for the result of the bone scan for now.