According to my cancer Killer Countdown, there are 30 days left of chemo to go! That has such a pleasant ring to me!
Things went very well today for chemo infusion number six. Sarah arrived at 7:45 am to escort me to my chemo infusion appointment, which lasted until 1:30pm. The drugs for each chemo treatment are mixed right there at Redwood Regional Cancer Center in their own pharmacy, made to order for each patient at each appointment, so it takes about 30 minutes for things to get under way when I arrive. The nurse brings out each bag of drugs and has me confirm that my name and date of birth are correct on each one.
So the first hour of drugs is the premeds like benadryl and a steroid, all to help prevent nausea and other symptoms typical with each chemo drug. This time I am on Taxol, which is also known for allergic reactions, hence the heavy steroids. The premeds also help to suppress my immune system so that the drugs work to kill the fast growing cancer cells. Once the benadryl kicked in I got very hoarse, which has been the case in the past, and very sleepy. But for some reason I couldn't sleep because my legs were very restless -- it was kind of weird. So I knit some more, visited with Sarah, and then finally slept for the last hour or two. I'm making great headway on a beautiful lace shawl I'm working on from my handspun yarn.
The infusion room is filled with about 10 cozy leather recliners, each with a fleece blanket. They make it very comfortable for us to rest, read, knit, visit with loved ones; whatever we like during the treatment, which can last up to 5 hours. Today I brought lunch with us, so we finished the session with our lunch and then came on home. I was still pretty drowsy so napped for another couple of hours before Sarah drove me down for a quick trip to the store and bank to take care of some business. All the while Mark was able to get some work done on repairing one of our raised vegetable beds in anticipation of planting our veggies, and then spent the afternoon on some book work. So it was a very productive day for all concerned.
I think the early morning appointment allowed me to rest and recuperate during the day so I had some energy in the evening. Sarah and I were able to do chores and give Mark a relief for a change. Then we made dinner and all three relaxed for the evening.
Right now I'm feeling pretty wired, probably from the steroids, so I hope that the Trazodone will allow me to get a full nights sleep and let my body continue to heal, because tomorrow we have another busy day.
Tomorrow Sarah will come with me for my Neulasta shot. Were gonna check out a cupcake shop in Santa Rosa. I had thought about bringing in a treat for the nurses at Redwood Regional for Easter, but have decided to do some research first and then bring in cupcakes for the nurses just before Mothers Day, which will be near my last chemo treatment. So the tough research will begin tomorrow. Heck... maybe we will find some cute Easter cupcakes that we can take to Alura and Stephan's on Sunday. :-)
GREAT NEWS.....
Sarah has officially given me the okay to share their news. She and Chris are also expecting their first baby. So this means that both my girls are pregnant, with our first and second grand children due two months apart; Alura is due in August and Sarah is due in October. How exciting is this? We are so blessed and have so much to look forward to this Fall.
Hugs, Debbie... aka the cancer warrior; AND survivor
Sonoma Relay for Life Team (8/6/11) ~ Debbie's Blasting Crew
LIVESTRONG:
I AM STRONG. I AM LOVED. I AM HEALTHY. WE WILL WIN!
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