How Chemo Is Going

It's been awhile since I've blogged and that's because I got bored with writing about me.  I like to write about things that I think are interesting, particularly if they're thought provoking or funny.  I haven't felt that writing about chemo would be any of that.  It's just a drag, plain and simple with no way to disguise it as interesting.  So this issue will be more for the record than entertainment.

Tomorrow I will have chemo treatment number 5 of 12 so am almost halfway finished.  I'll wait 3 weeks then begin the 7 weeks of daily radiation.  The chemo infusions themselves aren't bad since we've made some adjustments to the drugs I get.  Every Tuesday at 1:00 pm I take a mini DVD player and a good movie along with a few little snacks to the treatment center and relax for about 3 hours.  After treatment is over,  I'm usually so relaxed I go right to bed when I get home.  Steve has been a real champion and been there with me for all but one of the treatments.

Side effects after treatment suck. The worst is that my stomach aches constantly, no matter what I do.  I tend to want to eat comfort foods to combat the pain but am having to be extra vigilant not to gain weight.  I once thought chemo resulted more often in weight loss but that isn't true...chemo bloat is also a noted side effect.  But I'm proud of myself.  Last week I found I'd gained 3 pounds since starting chemo but I took it right off.  There is no way I'm going to backslide on all the effort I put into losing that 15 pounds last fall.

Diarrhea hits for about 3 days after the infusion, sometimes longer.  My face usually turns fire engine red with the day after being the worst.  My skin is SO dry, and I get bloody noses almost every day.  "Chemo brain" is something else.  One day I put dirty clothes in the dryer but the soap in the washer, then couldn't understand where the clothes went that I thought I had just washed.  And unfortunately, my hair started falling out the day before yesterday.  I was really beginning to think I'd keep it.  It was preceded by a very tender scalp like an all over sunburn on my head.  Today I had Stephie buzz cut my hair.  I quite like it!  She left some little side burns and a little fluff at the nape of the neck.  Steve says he likes it too.  I get tired, but the doc said to force myself to keep up my activity level, so that's what I spend most of my days doing.

Good stuff:  Prior to chemo I had an echocardiagram to make sure my heart could handle the treatment.  It was perfect.  I had always wondered how healthy it was since I've had some close relatives die early from heart attacks.  I planted a breast cancer victory garden.  By the time it's finished producing this fall, I should be done with all my treatments.  My complexion seems better so I hardly feel like I need makeup at all now.  That is probably due to the antibiotics I get in my infusions.  I feel like my strength has improved in some respects with all the yoga I've been doing.  I've gotten lots better at balance poses too.  I entered an agility trial with Win over the past weekend.  We had a simply wonderful time together, despite some off and on rain.  We even managed to get some ribbons and points toward my goal of qualifying to compete in AKC agility nationals next year.  My speed is not what it was and I was very surprised at how I felt bogged down at times, unable to move my feet like I wanted to.  But Win is such a good little dog.  He seemed to be paying extra attention to make sure he took the right path on the courses.  I got tired after the 3 days, but it felt great to still be able to get out and compete, something I was not sure I would be able to do at the beginning of this venture.

It feels kind of strange to spend almost all my time taking care of myself but also fun to be home a lot with my dogs, my yard and all my things.