BTW 12/31/2009

During yesterday's chemo, I had the pleasure of watching the movie "The Hangover" (courtesy of Larry--THANK YOU!). I watched it on the laptop with headphones on, and so many nurses and staff came over to find out what I was watching, because I laughed out loud through the whole movie. This may be one of the funniest comedies I have ever seen. If you have the opportunity, treat yourself to this gem! See the imbd review here.

5 down, 1 to go 12/30/2009

As usual, the wait to see the doctor was about 35 minutes after my appointment time. My blood lab numbers are still good, so I was passed through to chemo. When the nurse inserts the needle into the port, they have to be able to know that the blood vessel that the port accesses is not scarred over, so they try to draw blood through the port. As has been my continuing problem, the nurse could not. At first, she had me stand up, and move around to try opening the vessel. No go after 4 tries. So she had to administer Cathflo, which dissolves the accumulated fibers the occlude the port. It takes 30 minutes to work, so I didn't start chemo til noon.

Here are some pictures of the chemo center. (Pictures are clickable for a larger view.) This is of my own chosen spot there-it's out of the way, away from the windows, so there's no glare on the laptop screen, and usually quiet.


This is of the nurses' station directly across from my chair.


This is of the window side of the center:


There are a total of 30 chairs there, each with its own TV, table and visitor chair.
As predicted I did "mask up" on check in to the chemo center. Pictures are too scary to post...
Ray brought flowers again today--what a peach!

It was bound to happen 12/29/2009

I woke up on Sunday morning with a sore throat. The sore throat progressed to a gravelly chest cough. Yeah, I have a cold. I must have caught it at work--one of the sales reps had a cold for the week before Christmas. But other than the congestion, I don't feel too bad. I already had drippy eyes and nose; the congestion is the trifecta!

Tomorrow is #5, and I think I'll have to wear a face mask to protect everyone else at the chemo center. I'll send pictures!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Keep your fingers crossed 12/24/2009

I picked up an antibiotic/steroid prescription for my eyes today. Hopefully it will take the burning and itching away. That would be the BEST Christmas present...

Time off for good behavior 12/20/2009

Not much news lately, which, I suppose, is a good thing. This chemo cycle is shaping up pretty much like the others. The first week was not really bad, but not really good. The second week, I'm feeling more like myself. At the oncologist on Wednesday, I was told that since my blood labs have been consistently good, I can skip my doctor's visit this coming week. Small thing, but it's nice to have a bit of freedom from the doctor's office.

My eyes are still the major issue for me these days. They water (cry) constantly. If I dab at them, they get really red, and if I let the tears just roll down my face, my face gets irritated and red. Imagine crying all day, every day. Let me tell you, when I can lie down and go to sleep at night, it's heaven to be able to close my eyes. When I wake up in the morning, I have to pry my eyes open because of the dried gunk. The oncologist tells me that this effect will go away about 4 weeks after my last chemo (January 19th)--none too soon.

One really good note, though--I can't feel the original tumor.

The weekend after 12/13/2009

Maybe it's because I slacked off in drinking water (it helps to flush the poisons out of your system), but this weekend was one of the crappier weekends lately. My stomach has been somewhat upset, and that gross metal taste is VERY pronounced, making even water unpalatable. I keep telling myself that "this too shall pass" (See Alex? I do try to listen to myself...), and I am back to drinking copious amounts of water. Laying like a lump on the bed after veging out to one too many HGTV shows (how many Designed To Sell programs could you watch in a row?), I found myself thinking of the great places Ray and I will see this summer, when most of treatment is done. (After chemo, surgery and radiation is complete in early May, I'll still have Herceptin infusions every 3 weeks til next October. But the Herceptin doesn't have the same effects as the Taxotere and Carboplatin, in that its major downside is that it can damage your heart, but it doesn't mess up the rest of your body. I swear I'm going to have a party when they pull this port out of my chest next October.)

It's a very cool exercise to imagine every detail of hiking on the trail--how good you feel: how great it is to breathe deep, feel the wind on your face, your legs stretch, and just listen to the quiet around you. How beautiful it is! So I took a mental trip on Saturday, one that I will repeat for real in July, for sure.

Snow and less waiting 12/9/2009

Today when we left for chemo, there was 4-5" of snow on the ground, and the back roads hadn't seen a snow plow yet. It was, in fact, snowing like crazy.

Although traffic was heavy and slow, the ride was non-eventful. The best surprise was that I was able to walk into the lab for blood work with no waiting, I was called into the exam room shortly after I checked in, and actually got to see Dr. Brown in a few minutes. Chemo started at 10:00 or so.

I thought you all might like to see the needle that is inserted into the port in my chest for delivery of the chemotherapy drugs.
Here it is. The needle looks like it's about 3/4" long and is at the end of what looks like a pushpin. The one in the picture is covered by a safety plastic sheath.
This is the type of port that was implanted in my chest for delivery of the chemo drugs.

How Fast Time Flies 12/4/2009

It strikes me how fast the time flies in week 2 and 3 after chemo. All of a sudden it seems that the next chemotherapy is upon us. This Wednesday is #4--oh joy. It's not the infusion session itself that's annoying, but the week after, when I'm really not feeling "myself". As Ray would say :"Just one more telephone pole...."