More of the Same

There's not much new to share from yesterday's report. I'm still feeling the aches and still taking Tylenol to make them go away. Soon, I hope. Soon.

Weather-wise, I had no excuse not to get out and walk, so out I went. I took the shorter, 3-mile route, around the neighborhood, but the hill on this route was quite a challenge today. I plodded upwards at a snail's pace but eventually made it to the top and then back on around to home again. I better get out walking more often. I feel really out of shape. Of course, my legs aren't feeling their best right now.

For the majority of the day, I was busy working with my wrestling photos. I have quite a collection from the many meets I shot. I needed to sort through them all, selecting my best. These will be used by the Athletic Boosters Club in an "all-sports" PowerPoint slide presentation. My choices are made, but tomorrow's work will be to clean them up a bit using photo editing software. With work beginning next week, I need to get some of these last tasks taken care of before heading back to the office.

Continued Achiness

With no rest for the weary, the Neulasta drug kept up its kick, bringing aches throughout my hips, thigh bones, shins, and knees. I continue to take Tylenol every six hours but it doesn't completely erase the pain.  I believe the worst of it should be just about over. Just another day or two and my bones should stop singing the blues.

My mouth and throat haven't gotten any worse in spite of the fact that I am not using the salt/baking soda rinses. I'm gambling that I'll get over the mouth side effects without it. If all goes as before I should be feeling pretty much like myself by this next weekend.

I wasn't as tired today, so that's an improvement. Aside from church and a couple of quick errands, we kept close to home. The rain has gone and the sky was blue, but the air was definitely chilled. We can see snow in the nearby mountains. It was another day to stay warm and bundled up. During our mall excursion yesterday, I had bought a "Perfect Tea Maker" and some loose leaf tea. Today my son and I had fun making Youthberry tea and Peach Cran-Tango tea. Throw in some Girl Scout Shortbread cookies and we were  feeling fine.

A Book and a Blanket Kind of Day

The weather alone would have had me cuddled in a blanket with a good book. But the chemo drugs and Neulasta shot were causing their usual havoc to my body and I would have enjoyed the blanket and book on a warm and sunny day too. I'm definitely feeling under the weather, tired, and the aches come and go. I knew today was going to be a bit rough. Moving as little as possible seemed just fine with me.

Later in the afternoon, my son was bored from an overload of homework and we decided to head to the mall for a little bit of shopping and to just get out of the house to move around a bit. I don't think it helped me any but it didn't hurt either. The walk was probably good for me since I haven't got out in a while. He scored on some clothes and I found some tea and a tea maker. More Tylenol was needed when I returned home.

The rain has returned and there was even some hail. Did you hear that? My blanket and book are calling to me.

Tired Again Today

I'm still dragging today. If I could get a good night's sleep once in a while that would really help. I woke up too early today at 4:30am and couldn't go back to sleep. So another nap was needed before lunch.

I haven't had any real problems with achiness yet. I took the Claritin again this morning and will do so through Sunday. I'm also taking Tylenol doses every 6 hours. It seems to be working so far keeping the aches away. Saturday is usually the toughest day so I'll see how things progress tomorrow. I was hoping to go out for a walk today before the big cold storm rolls in but I just didn't feel up to it. Probably best to rest right now.

Food and water taste funny again. My mouth and tongue have the prickly feeling too. I probably should be using the salt/baking soda rinse but I just can't force myself to do it. The taste makes me gag. I'm going to go without and see what happens. If my mouth seems to take a turn for the worse, I'll start gargling away with the stuff.

The Neulasta Shot is Also a Thing of the Past

I had my last Neulasta shot today and I still don't like them. There's no pain when they put the needle in, but the cold drug burns uncomfortably as it is injected. The pain goes away right afterwards so it's only a temporary nuisance. The nurse tried to warm it up a bit with her hands but it felt no better than the last. I'm just thankful I don't need anymore of those and it did its job keeping me healthy these past couple of months.

So with the Neulasta shot comes the Claritin and Tylenol regimen. So far so good. I'm not feeling the aches yet. I'll take some more Tylenol in just a bit before bed and should sleep fine.

Speaking of sleep, I'm still catching up from Tuesday night. I forgot to mention I had only two hours of sleep the night before my chemotherapy. I just couldn't shut my mind down and was reading into the early morning. By 4:00am I finally fell asleep and that left me only two hours until the alarm went off. I got more sleep last night which helped, but I had to break for a nap after lunch today. I was just too pooped out. I'm feeling much better now and should sleep well tonight with the Tylenol in me.

My mouth is getting that funny feeling and taste is a bit off. Nothing I haven't experienced before. And again, still no nausea. The anti-nausea drugs work exceptionally well for me, but many of the patients I saw yesterday were complaining of nausea during treatment and were given more drugs to help them and prescription refills to fight it at home afterwards. I have two untouched bottles of pills that I've never needed. I'm still amazed how blessed I am to not have this problem and am able to keep a good appetite.

This evening I joined the ladies from our support group for a women's event held at our church. We enjoyed good food, fellowship, music, and a terrific speaker. The message was: "Our Faith: Are you Growing Up or Just Growing Old?" The speaker was awesome with a very inspirational and relevant message. Her humor kept us laughing throughout. It was a great way to end the day.

Yay! Last Chemo Infusion Done!

I know I still have that darn Neulasta shot tomorrow and the achiness that follows, but I'm enjoying tonight's good feeling - "No more chemotherapy!" Woohoo!

My red blood count and hemoglobin results were just about like last time, a little bit below the low bar but the nurse praised how good the results were for a person at my point in chemotherapy treatment. So no new shots or transfusions were needed to bring it up. Another blessing.

Getting the needle into my arm went much smoother than last treatment. And it was done by another nurse I hadn't seen before. My anxiousness was unnecessary and I was hooked up with minimal pain and effort. Whew! And I was good and kept the needle in throughout the infusion. The lady next to me was not as lucky and had her needle slip out at the end of her treatment and her arm was puffing up just like mine did that first time. The nurse hurried on over to her and took care of things very quickly. For her, it was just the final saline solution dripping into surrounding tissue. My needle slipped out during the infusion of one of the chemo drugs but they had diluted it quite a bit with saline since it was my first treatment and they were nervous how I might be affected by it especially because they were going to be closed a day early for the Christmas holiday.

I discussed my return to work with the administrator that handles the disability insurance stuff and the doctor okay'd my return date of March 9th, two weeks from today. I like the idea that it is a Wednesday so I have a short first week before the normal forty-hour weeks kick back in. I'm going back with no restrictions so no part-timing, just going to jump right back in there. Tomorrow I call the insurance company and have them start the return to work processing.

As for my next steps regarding my treatment plan, I have an appointment with the doctor March 7th to discuss what is needed next. I don't know if I will need any new tests or scans at this time. I do know I will be starting the hormone therapy, Tamoxifin, once a day for 5 years. I need to visit the lab again next Wednesday to have blood drawn to make sure the blood counts don't drop any lower causing concern. And finally, I'll find out how long I have to wait before I can have the next surgery to complete the reconstruction. It seems like I still have a lot ahead of me, but I'm getting there. One day, one week, one month at a time.

Here We Go Again

The last treatment cycle begins today. I've taken my first doses of Decadron and am ready to go for tomorrow. I am feeling great with no cold and with plenty of energy. My blood must be good enough.

I had lunch today with a friend from work. I enjoyed both the food and the visit. Afterwards I decided to follow her back to work and visit with all my friends, many I hadn't seen since before Christmas. I did my best to be disruptive and kept them from their work. :-)  Asking when I would be back to stay, I told them two weeks from tomorrow. I know I'll be ready to go by then. I just need to get my doctor on board to agree to the date so the disability insurance people can process the paperwork.

My son spent most of his last day off finishing his homework which consisted of two essays and studying for tests. We had some time together visiting a coffee house after dinner, enjoying a gourmet coffee and pastry.

The day and holiday weekend are just about over and tomorrow is business as usual for my husband and son. And for me - chemotherapy! ONE MORE TIME. Yay!!!