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.

8th Treatment

Okay, 8 treatments done but this is no picnic. I have no appetite at all, and some foods just taste weird. I'm drinking a lot more than I'm eating and that has caused a few intestinal problems if you can guess what I mean. I weighed myself this morning and I've lost 8 pounds. The good news (well, technically, losing 8 pounds is good news to me) is that the side effects haven't been as severe as they were last week. The headache has been the worst part, and even that's bearable. Last night the fever didn't seem to get as high as the night before, and I actually slept rather well. I'm still dealing with lightheadedness which comes and goes. The nurse kept the IV in my hand yesterday with hopes of reusing it today, but it's been bugging me and I'm wondering whether it's going to work. I guess it's really not worth worrying about since there's nothing I can do about it anyway. I'm glad this is it for the week, and I'll be able to call myself halfway through. Really, it's hard to complain too much when I only have to go through this for a month and there are patients at the cancer center who have been going through treatments for years. It could be so much worse. I have to remind myself that I really am one of the lucky ones.

8 down, 11 to go