Have you ever felt like you’re on a roller coaster? This 3 weekly chemo sure feels like it. I seem to have one week at the bottom and two weeks climbing back up to the top. It reminds me of one of my favourite movie scenes. Watch the clip it’s only short.
Would I prefer to be on a roundabout? Would I appreciate my ‘good days’ if I was? Probably not… but it’s tempting to say STOP I WANT TO GET OFF!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Last week I was a LOT better than the episode before. I still had stabbing pains in the stomach from the legendary ‘chemo irritated stomach ulcer’, nausea and brain fog galore. The dexamethasone keeps me awake all night so I’m tired all day. I can’t remember anything from the day before (serious!!!!). BUT this is a whole lot better than the last dose and by the weekend I was pretty good. So I’ve now got the knack of juggling the drugs and keeping my week free of appointments. I also know not to attempt to drive the car. That leaves me 2 weeks of party time. Well… in my own little ‘foggy party girl’ way. Back to running on the treadmill tomorrow:)
Splinter fella
If you think I tease my husband too much… then you don’t know him or the MFB. They don’t know the meaning of ‘enough’. The MOTH had 2 weeks off with his splinter injury and was dreading going back to work because he knew what would happen. Those guys are the masters of teasing. Not that the MOTH doesn’t love every minute of it of course. Attention is attention after all!
He arrived at the Firestation, with his little black plastic finger cover that the hand specialist told him he had to wear over his finger. Prior to that day he wore that cover for about 4 hours total so this was all a show for the guys at the #15 Firestation.
He walked in the door and discovered all the walls and windows in the station covered in signs such as these (below). His chair had a ‘splinter free zone’ sign on it. He arrived in the mess room for breakfast to find that all of the firemen were wearing black tape over their middle finger in sympathy.
THEN… the ‘peer support’ team from headquarters called him to ask if he needed any support for his splinter. Obviously ‘somebody’ put them up to it. His mate Graham was limping and explained that he had a splinter in his foot. So on and so forth… all day… all week… until…
Will he ever hear the end of it? I think not. Meanwhile… he keeps giving everyone ‘The bird’ and thinks he can get away with it if he says ‘I’ve got a splinter’ at the same time.
What about MY finger?
My finger nails are doing weird things. I have a massive dent in one fingernail and a lump where the nail is buckling under my skin. Any sympathy out there? No. My doctor said it was normal and my nail will probably fall off. OK. I’ll just deal with it. After all, it isn’t a splinter is it?
In all fairness… Col has been such a honey during my time of illness I don’t know what I would do without him. He is a tower of strength and support and our relationship has grown so much closer through the storm. I can’t thank him enough and wish that everybody had a best buddy to be married to like I have. It’s times like this that I really appreciate him. Love you honey!
Just so you know, sometimes I’m pretty grumpy too. I know that’s hard to imagine ha ha.
Chemo information
I received an email from Healthline.com this week asking me if I would put a link to their chemo information and the 19 common side effects. So there it is! I’m doing my thing for Healthline (whoever they are). They believe that people need to be aware. Hmm. I am in two minds. I think it’s pretty scary to read but I also like it’s honesty. So much of the information for patients is sugar coated. I’ll let you decide.
Wow I’m glad I didn’t read that before I started. I have almost all of those side effects but it seems worse when you read them than when you have them. Strange but true.
I’m all ready with my armour on to tackle the next chemo sucker due on the 19th. In many respects I’m not getting as many symptoms on this chemo as with Paclitaxol but with my current stomach problems the next and final 3 hits are going to be a challenge. I’m so glad they are only 3 weekly now and that I get time to recover, unlike before when chemo was every week. I feel much better now and even drove the car! Whee! I am concerned about my concentration on the road. My brain is getting worse and worse. There is so much fog in there I feel like I need a personal assistant. If you see me on the road clear outta the way.
For some weird reason, my hair all fell out and then began growing back again. For a while I shaved it off but then I left it. It’s white and soft like baby hair and now about 2cm long. It’s very sparse so you can still see my scalp very easily but even so… it’s hair. The even weirder thing is that everywhere else my hair has gone and isn’t growing back. I haven’t shaved my legs for months. Yay for that. I’ve alway done things differently to everyone else ha ha.
Yesterday I had the first treatment of cycle four of Paclitaxel (chemo). On the day of the first chemo appointment I always see the doctor for a measure up and to check how I’m going with side effects etc. The doctor named me ‘Super woman’ because of my exercise routine and then armed herself with the measuring tape to measure the tumour. She soon discovered that she couldn’t find it to measure! It’s shrunk from an egg to ‘too small to find’ within 3 months. That’s something to be happy about yes?
To top it off I can’t seem to do anything to fix it. You would think that being an artist I would be able to draw my own eyebrows on but according to my beauty consultant (daughter) I’m hopeless. Somedays one eyebrow looks surprised and the other one looks angry. Other days I look like Frida Kahlo’s doppelganger. Maybe I’ll start wearing a balaclava or a disguise from the $2 shop.
at’s 3 times in two days I’ve been asked ‘where is your blog post?’. Oops I’ve been very slack. So here are some news flashes.
Through the eyes of a dishmop 