Three to go

One week of chemo over. I don't have treatment on the weekends so I will have a little break for before starting week 2 on Monday.

So far it is going better than I thought it would, all things considered. The first day was VERY bad. I had an immediate reaction to the drug right there in the hospital and that afternoon and early evening were so bad I couldn't imagine how I was going to endure another month. But around 8 pm the side effects subsided and I had a bit to eat and I started to feel human again. The next two days the side effects didn't kick in until several hours after I finished the treatments, but they were much milder and only lasted a few hours. Thursday I experience nausea for the first time but they gave me something that cleared it up just like that. I forget what it was called - Maxtron or Maxatrol or something - but it was just lovely :). Later that evening I got some aches and chills but that was it. Today more aches and chills earlier in the day but no other symptoms.

Well, except tiredness/weakness. I have been becoming progressively weaker all week long. The chemo area at the cancer center is one floor above the main entrance and you can either take the elevator or the stairs. The stairs are shallow and not at all a steep climb and I vowed to myself that I would take them as long as I could. Today I gave up. When they said I would become extremely fatigued they were not kidding.

Today one of the volunteers was someone I knew. A young man from a family we have known for years. At first I didn't recognize him because it has been a few years since I saw him. I also didn't recognize him because he was wearing his low vision glasses and using his walking stick, something I hadn't seen him with before. He sat with me for part of my treatment and we caught up. He told me about the onset of his blindness and what he went through in coming to terms with it. I don't want to go into details because of the personal nature, but I must say that his courage was inspiring to me. We talked about the role our faith plays in dealing with our illnesses. Remarkably, he told me that he is now THANKFUL for his blindness because it has shaped his character and brought about spiritual growth.

I really enjoyed our visit. Talking to him offered me a glimpse at the future: it IS possible to continue on in life with hope and not constantly dwell on the disease.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

First day of chemo

So I am at the hospital right now, getting my first interferon treatment. My schedule is packed for the next month. I have treatment every day Monday to Friday for the next 4 weeks; blood tests twice a week for each week and a consultation with the oncologist once a week. They said by this evening I'm going to start feeling like I have the flu. It affects everybody differently so there's no telling how it lasts. I could have periods between the treatments when I feel better/less sick. This is more likely to happen once I am finished with the induction (ie. "every-day") treatment phase and move into the maintenance phase. I'm not going to be working for the next month. There's really no point - I'm spending a good part of each day here and I'm supposed to get lots of rest.

After the first month I only need to come once a week for blood work and once a month to see the oncologist. I will be self-administering the interferon. The needles are supposed to be like an epi-pen. It doesn't sound too bad.

There are a lot of sick people here, but it is a fairly upbeat environment. The volunteers are fantastic! Many of them are cancer survivors and are quite compassionate.

Oh! I am getting a funny taste in my mouth. I wonder if that is the drug? Other than that I don't feel any different.

There is a home care nurse who comes to see me once a week to change the dressing on the PICC line. I had that inserted last week and I only have to have it during the induction phase. I'm tring to figure out how I can incorporate it into a Halloween costume *grins* The nice thing about the PICC is that I won't have to have any needles for my treatments or for the blood draws twice a week. I have really crappy veins, so needles are a bit of a hassle.

I'm a little bit scared, mostly about the unknown - how sick will I be? How long will it last? And always, will the cancer come back? Even so, I feel pretty optimistic over all. That might change, of course, when the vomiting starts, lol.

Mearrik at 5 weeks

That little dumpling is 8.2 lbs now!

We are so blessed that Kirk and Hope live just down the street from us.  I get to see him often...pretty much whenever I like :)

He came to stay with us Friday night so his mom and dad could catch up on their sleep.  He sleeps in a bassinet next to our bed.  Or in our arms :)

It has been such a joy and a blessing to get to know this little fellow.  Couldn't you just eat him up?

He's just 5 weeks old and already I don't know what I would do without him.

Good news

The CT scan came back clear.  The pathology on the lymph nodes came back negative for cancer.  Next week I will be going to the cancer center to see about adjuvant therapy (interferon).  The relief I feel is pretty overwhelming.  I might need to go to my "thinking spot" to process...