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.

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