Chemo: week - the last week, I hope -

Looking back on it (briefly) - then forward...


It's been 3 courses of chemo and I had my last infusion this past Tuesday (October 11, 2010). This is grounds for a celebration but I'll put that off until the effects wear off so I can fully enjoy it. The celebration will be short lived - like after winning the play-offs - because I've made it to the World Series and those games(?) remains to be won.

I am tired of feeling the way chemo makes you feel. The oppressive 'warmth' that weighs on you to your core. I seem to have avoided most of the side effects: hair loss, numbness in fingers and toes, further loss of hearing and eyesight, weight loss, nausea (mostly), <the list goes on>, and for that I am extremely grateful. But, none the less, I have come to appreciate the dangers that accompany the injection of these powerfully toxic chemicals into a 'healthy' body and my hands are still sore from the infusions (and leak thereof).

My treatment was designed to run over three cycles; each with three weeks of infusions followed by one week of recovery.  In all three cycles, my body wasn't able to withstand the fury of these poisons and the third infusion had to be dropped for fear that it would weaken me to such an extent that I might contract pneumonia or some other infection that would take weeks or even months to recover from to a point where we could restart our attack on this cancer. So we took one extra week off which didn't bother my Oncologist so it certainly didn't bother me and, as I have documented in this blog, I have made good use of those breaks.

I will be meeting with my surgeon next Tuesday (October 19, 2010) to get a follow-up CAT scan and discuss surgery options.

This week I have been tired. I don't take many nausea pills (as many as I take when I get the platinum chemo) and I don't get the two-day rush that comes from the steroid infusion for nausea. So I slept most of Wednesday.

Thursday I felt good enough for a bike ride and I took a corner too fast and dumped my bike. I'll have sore shoulders and a sore wrist for a while (no scrapes or road rash to heal). Only my pride was injured which is why I got up and left the scene so fast that I didn't notice my keys had fallen out of my pocket. I checked the area on my way home and they had already been picked up. If this weren't enough, my front tire went flat and I had to walk the bike the rest of the way home.

But that was yesterday. Today we're off to Chicago to stay with our son and beautiful (and exceptional) grand kids for the WHOLE WEEKEND. So things are looking up.