2nd Week of Recovery

Feeling good! I feel even better than last week. This past weekend I even cleaned the kitchen floor! It took forever because I had to keep sitting down to take a break, but I got it done and felt good about it. I'm also happy to report that my brain is back in gear. I cannot believe how much work I've been able to get done this week! I even worked on my graduate studies this past weekend and accomplished quite a bit. I'm eating more too (darn!). The one strange thing through all of this is that the only thing that tasted really good during treatment and I still crave are red Swedish fish. I expected to not get hungry for the foods that tasted bad during treatment, but I also have no desire for some of the other things that tasted alright during treatment. So, while I'm eating more, the things I'm interested in eating are on a short list. Luckily, watermelon is on the short list!

There are only three things that still need to clear up: 1) my taste buds for salt are on overdrive; 2) the rash and itching aren't quite gone; and 3) the sinus pressure has gotten worse. I finally made an appointment with the family doctor for tomorrow to get something to clear up this sinus thing. I think that having that pressure gone will make the biggest difference! I do still get tired, but not like I did during treatment. I can tell that I'm at the end of a work week too. I'm starting to drag. Some of that could be from the sinus thing though.

On Monday I had bloodwork done and all the numbers continue to climb - a good thing. I also delivered a bouquet of roses and a thank you card for everyone at the cancer center. I took along the little individual capsules of water so everyone could each take a rose home with them. Today I got a thank you card from the oncology nurses! I was glad to hear how much they enjoyed the flowers, and I just hope they realize how much I appreciate them.

1st Week of Recovery

It's Wednesday, and surprise, surprise, I have no patience for this recovery business. I'm constantly tired, I have swollen lymph nodes in the back of my head and behind my right ear, I'm still a bit light-headed, and I still have an awful taste in my mouth. There, I've listed my major complaints. Now I can be grateful for the cure I assume I've been given, for the end of the IV treatments, for no more fever, chills, or aches. While I'm not used to sitting around doing absolutely nothing, I have bonded with my cat. I'm ready to get back into being busy though. Now where did I put my motivation four weeks ago? It's got to be in me somewhere! One of these mornings I'll wake up and be full of vim and vigor - okay, I can almost hear my husband laughing cause that's not me in the morning. However, after a cup of coffee it's a different story! Maybe that's the secret ingredient - coffee. I haven't had a cup of coffee for a very long time. I'm not really wanting it yet, but maybe it will taste good again. I only have two more Ensures left, which means I'll need a new breakfast by Saturday. I guess that will have to be my first coffee morning.

I have a 3:00 meeting scheduled at work tomorrow, so there's no backing down this time. I'm going in! Gee, wonder if Murphy (the cat) wants to go along? Well, back to getting my stacks of papers and books into some kind of order by 5:00pm so it's easier to walk away from it tomorrow.

If my husband asks you, please tell him that yes I did take a multi-vitamin today. I promise to take one everyday, and I hope that they're packed full of energy.

19th & Last Treatment!

How great to finally make it to the last treatment! My hubby and I practically had the treatment room to ourselves, and I was the last patient there by the time my treatment was over. The nurses collected hole punch "dots" and celebrated with us by tossing them in the air as confetti, and they gave me a Purple Heart certificate. They really made this as doable as it possibly could be by being sincerely caring and attentive. I cannot say enough about the nurses. They seemed to get to know each and every patient, and everyone was on a first name basis. It was as pleasant a place as it could be considering why I went there every day.

The treatment itself was just as all the others. We stopped and got a butterscotch krimpet to celebrate on the way home. It tasted a little overly sweet, but not too bad. I stayed awake (sort of) long enough to say goodbye to my oldest son when he left for the airport to head back home. Then that was it. I pretty much slept the rest of the night. My stomach was unsettled again, but a Compazine eventually settled it down enough so I could finish off a glass of Gatorade.

Saturday I slept in and woke up feeling light-headed and with an unsettled stomach (so what's new). I realize that it's going to take awhile to feel good again, but just knowing that I don't have to go back for another treatment on Monday morning makes this the best weekend in awhile. I still have that weird taste in my mouth, but cantaloupe tasted almost normal while I tasted the pickles in potato salad and too much salt with potato chips. Even a grilled cheese sandwich, which sounded good, ended up tasting too salty. The Ensure drink for breakfast is the best thing I've found to start my day - I almost look forward to it because I know it's going to taste good.

Sunday I'm still trying to get my head to stop floating, so I've been laying around a lot. My motivation level is still at zero, although I've been able to do some leisurely reading. I've noticed that the lymph nodes in the back of my head are swollen, and I'm not sure if that's something that I need to call the doctor about or not. I'll probably wait till tomorrow and just let her know in case it actually matters. I still have the rash, but it's not getting any worse. The best part about today is that I don't have to go for treatment tomorrow - have I mentioned that already?!

19 done, none to go!!

18th Treatment

I started the day with more bloodwork which showed all of my numbers being even lower than before, which explains the way I felt. They weren't too low though, so I'll be able to finish the treatment as planned. I'm supposed to avoid people with colds/flu for another week or so till my numbers start climbing back up. I go back for more bloodwork in a week. Then I saw my oncologist, and showed her the rash I've been fighting. She said that interferon doesn't usually cause a rash, so she isn't sure what's causing it. I'm to let her know if it doesn't start fading away next week. My next appointment with her will be in four weeks. Then it was treatment time which went as usual. I feel tired, washed out, but okay - fever, and body aches aren't too bad. Tomorrow is it! Thank goodness!!

18 down, only 1 more to go

17th Treatment

The additional nausea medicine continues to help, although I did take a compazine this morning after my stomach didn't settle down after drinking an Ensure for breakfast. I had the wonderful surprise of finding my oldest son at home after my treatment. I'm not the best company though, and still had to head upstairs for my couple of hours of sleep time. The fever didn't get too high last night, and I actually ate some dinner for a change. Maybe he was the positive influence I needed. I just feel worn down, and am anxious for tomorrow to be over.

17 down, 2 to go

16th Treatment

What a difference a day makes! When my husband asked me Monday night if there was anything he could get me, I said Tuesday morning. Yesterday went much better than the day before it. Because I told the nurses about the problems I had with nausea, they added another medicine to the IV yesterday. Whether that was the reason or not, I had no problems with nausea last night. I came home from treatment and went right to bed again, but was up after about 3 hours. I was feverish and achy, but it was certainly tolerable. I sat in front of the TV wrapped in a blanket until bedtime.

I'm lightheaded this morning, but I'm sure pushing some liquids will help with that. I've had an awful taste in my mouth that never goes away, which masks the true flavor of foods and makes things taste bad. Salty things taste way too salty, and tasteless things like water have the bad taste I carry in my mouth. It seems as though creamy things like pudding, milkshakes, and Ensure taste the best. One of the nurses recommended mashed potatoes, which I haven't tried yet.

I'm hoping that the rest of the week's treatments will go the same as yesterday's. I'm almost home-free! My eyes tear up just thinking about what it will feel like on Friday to finally be done.

16 down, 3 to go

15th Treatment

I had a quiet weekend fighting nausea. My stomach was unsettled which made eating an issue again. Ironically, it remained unsettled until I was sitting in the chair waiting for the IV to start my treatment. I told the nurses that, at that moment, I was feeling the best I had felt in a week. If I can believe the scale, I've lost 15 pounds so far. Yeah, an unsettled stomach will do that. After telling them about my stomach problems, they called in a prescription for compazine for me.

My bloodwork showed that the platelets dropped a little again, but everything else seemed to be holding steady.

When we got home, I decided to go straight to bed since my head was hurting so much. I slept for a couple of hours and woke up with a major fever, chills, headache, and upset stomach. My body hurt too much to stay in bed, as I couldn't get comfortable. It was still light outside, so I got up, hoping that a little movement would help. Well, my stomach was so nauseous that I was afraid to have anything pass by my lips. Eventually, I was able to take sips of Sprite, and then finally took a compazine. I'm so glad they called in that script for me. It seemed to do the trick.

The headache lingered into this morning, but is now gone of course since I'll be leaving for treatment soon. I'm hoping that that will be the worst of it this week.

15 down, 4 to go

14th Treatment

Since I had an early treatment at 10:00am today, we stopped at Panera's for a little breakfast. I ate half of a cinnamon crunch bagel and drank a hot chai tea latte. The bagel tasted almost too sweet for me, which is crazy considering how much I love sweet things. My stomach just didn't feel right from the night before, even though I had hoped that eating something would help. I got through the treatment, came home, and slept on the sofa the entire day. I didn't want anything to pass between my lips; that's how unsettled my stomach felt. My hubby got home from work and there I was, still parked on the sofa. I stayed there till bedtime. What can I say - I just plain feel sick.

14 down, 5 to go

13th Treatment

Monday's treatment left me feeling like I had been run over by a truck, and then Tuesday's and Wednesday's treatments weren't too terribly bad. Then comes Thursday and the treatment left me feeling more like I did on Monday. There just doesn't seem to be any way to predict how it's going to affect me. If I could tie it into what I eat, or don't eat, how much I drink, etc. then I could feel as though I have some control over it. Unfortunately, it makes no sense to me.

13 down, 6 to go

12th Treatment

Third day for the same IV line, but that's as long as they can keep a line in. I'll have to have a new line put in tomorrow. I've been drinking the Ensure samples they gave me. They're almost like a milkshake and very creamy. They don't taste funny like most food seems to. I thought I was hungry for a pork barbeque last night, but that ended up tasting weird. Margarine tastes weird too. I do eat multi-grain Cheerios dry for breakfast some mornings, and that tastes alright. Tonight my hubby made BLT sandwiches, and that tasted good but saltier than usual. I'm worried that when food tastes good again, I'll gain all my weight back. I guess I'll have to get on a Wii Fit schedule. The aches are about the same as last night, and I don't feel too feverish. I'm thirsty, tired, and my stomache has been unsettled all day, but that's all minor. I guess I'd better push some liquids before heading to bed.

12 down, 7 to go

11th Treatment

Everything went as usual for today's treatment. They were able to reuse the IV line from yesterday which is always nice since I get to avoid another needle stick. I'm sure they like it too since they don't have to go on a vein hunt. A heating pad did the trick in keeping my vein from hurting the last half hour. I came home tired as usual, and rested on the patio again. My daughter was coming to take me to Babies R Us to look at crib sets, and I almost called her to cancel because I felt so tired. I'm glad I hung in there. She drove and did most of the talking. I was able to walk around the store and help her decide on the pattern she wanted, and then bought a set so they could pick out matching paint to get the room started. The aches really didn't get too bad, and the headache was bearable. I went to bed early but had trouble getting comfortable. It was definitely an easier night than Monday night.

11 down, 8 to go

10th Treatment

The weekend was quiet. I didn't have much of an appetite or energy although I perked up a little bit on Sunday - enough to plant a few more flowers and do a little weeding. I have found that I like the chocolate Ensure drink as a meal replacement or supplement.

I had bloodwork completed again, and then an appointment with my oncologist. Everything looks as it should. My white blood cell count shows that my body is working against infection which means that I'm less immune to random bugs floating around. I'm supposed to avoid crowds or other similar situations where I might be more susceptible to picking up something. Although the toxin level is up it is in acceptable limits, so all is as it should be. All that, and then I had to go for my treatment too.

After two days off, they said that it would probably be a rough night. Geez, they were right! We stopped off at the grocery store on the way home, but I kept my sunglasses on the whole time because the headache had already begun. We unpacked the groceries and then I went out on the patio to relax and wait. Within an hour it felt as though I had been run over by a truck. I took two Tylenol at 5:00pm, and at some point after that headed to bed. I asked my husband to bring me two more Tylenol at 9:00. The fever was high enough to have me huddled under the blankets, but at least I wasn't shivering. The aches had me miserable. Around 10:00pm, the worst seemed over and I ventured downstairs for something to drink. It was tough to roll out of bed this morning because I still have the headache. I know that I couldn't handle the construction noise at work with this pain in my head. Some mornings I wonder whether I could even make the walk from the parking lot to my office - that's pretty sad. I'm going to make myself get in there at least one morning this week, just to prove to myself that I can do it. Besides, I'm ready for a few different files.

10 down, 9 to go