NOW I can say "half-way!" (Message 16 of 21)

1 June 2011

Hi again!

Hot enough for you? I feel like a queen, sitting here in A/C set between 78 & 85 degrees (depending on time of day). For those last hold outs, IT'S WORTH IT!! 

Today was Chemotherapy #3, kicking off a Round Three that my Doc tells me could be even better than Round Two. I would be fine with a duplicate. Days one & two were a bit unpleasant with some early side effects (brief morning nausea, headache), but by Saturday & Sunday I was feeling good. Monday & Tuesday of that first week were the worst. (A few mouth sores, fatigue, mild skin rash.) I don't know if you remember the line drawing in last month's email of Dr. Mintzer's description of what would happen with the white blood cells, but it pretty much went just like that, only the brief dip came a couple of days early. By Wednesday -- just one week after treatment day -- I was just fine for the entire rest of the cycle! The metallic taste in my mouth lingered a bit longer, as did a lower-key, annoying-but-not-terrible skin rash, but only by a day or two. 

Me & Tricia at the sunny Columbia tri, May 22

That next Sunday was the Columbia,MD olympic distance triathlon that I had to give up, and I was almost wishing I had held out for it... until the day came and I realized the sun alone would have done me in. It was a fun day, though, cheering for the team. Nice to spend the day with the Tri-Dawgs, and watch them have a good day. 

I got to pick up the activity level quite a bit and it really helped with the fatigue. It's a catch-22... If I can prevent myself sleeping for three hours after work, I can get to the pool or out for a run in the evening, get a better night's sleep, and boost the next day's energy. Sleeping too much in the evening put's the kabosh on that! There are only so many hours in the day. So, I've learned that NOT SKIPPING a lunch-time 45 minute siesta makes the evening workout more likely. The more of that I did, the more I was able to do. 

Team mate Steph's son Ian, Lenny & Moi at swim practice

By the end of round two, I spent every day doing something fun. I got to feel the Tri-Dawg love on Saturday when I decided to give my scalp some air and not wear a swim cap. That was tough, but it would have been horrifying any place else. Thanks to the Dawgs, I had the guts to take it off at the pool at the Y on Tuesday. 

And, thanks to my friend Jerome for organizing it, I was able to get out for a 43 mile ride with 8 friends Sunday morning before the sun got too hot. Dr. M picked my brain and read my log* about that, asking about the route and commenting on how flat it was... "Good!" I swear he cracks me up. [Turns out he's actually a cyclist himself and shortly after saw him for a followup after my last treatment, he made a trip to Italy for a multi-day cycling tour!]   He's the best! He was so glad to see daily workouts again, after the fist go-round's debacle. 

Last time, I filled my pharmacy bag with ammo for everything that hit me the first time. But there was one additional thing I wasn't ready for, even though Dr. M told me it would happen. He said, "When things calm down and you're feeling good, it's all going to hit you, so don't be surprised when it happens. It's perfectly normal." So, I had a melt down. I went mental over the holiday weekend, over reacting to stuff and crying about EVERYTHING.  Jeromne & Dr. M said pretty much the same thing:  "What you're going through is Big. It's not going to kill you (probably), but it did take away some of life as you know it. It's forced you to live in a way you wouldn't have chosen and it all happened really fast. You hadn't had time to get mad before now."  Lots of people face terrible depression when stuff like this happens. I know many of you are facing similar situations and now I know -- even though I already knew you were strong -- how much stronger you are than I realized before.

Well, I think I'm prepared if that happens again. I think I'll be able to tell myself "calm down, this will pass," because it did. I also think it was anxiety-induced, over "looking forward" to the next treatment. Right before a treatment when I'm feeling great, there's nothing to do but wait for the coming drip that will start it all over again. Now that I've had the treatment, I can busy myself dealing with the side effects! Twisted, I know.

Okay! Next up:

Tomorrow  ... Neulasta shot at noon (self-administered!) to boost infection-fighting, hard working white blood cells!

Also tomorrow ... Set up appointments with the radiation oncologist for treatments -- which start a couple of weeks after my last chemo -- and get the radiation beams all set up for that,  Radiation shouldn't be too big of a deal. 20 min. a day, five days a week for 6 weeks.

May 21 ... make brownies to give the nursing staff at Chemo #4

May 22 .... LAST CHEMO TREATMENT!!  Tell the chemo nurses the brownies are "medicinal," and ask them to save one for Dr. M.

Hope that if you like really hot weather, you're very happy! Welcome to last summer. For the rest of us, STAY COOL and drink lots of recovery beverages.

Love,

Diane


*I've been keeping a modified version of a triathlon training log that helps me keep track of how I feel each day, side effects, what meds I take for that, how well that's working, what I can eat, etc. . .  plus my workouts and such.