Made It!

2/18/09

I made it through ROUND 5! I woke up this morning feeling pretty happy and good for some reason. I think having a chance to process through some grief and sadness yesterday cleared the way for feeling upbeat this morning. And, I think the acupuncture really helped. I am going to stick with that even after all my treatments are over.

I went in and my blood counts were good- white was perfect and red was just a tiny bit low. So, I feel like I've been doing something right to take care of myself. My cold is hardly there at all today- must have been the mugwart (sounds like something out of Harry Potter). I started off with an IV with more steroids and anti-nausea medication, followed by benadryl. Within a few minutes of getting the benadryl I was feeling drugged and sleepy and could hardly keep my eyes open. Soon I turned into one of the chemo zombies that I'm always getting freaked out by. I ended up drifting in and out of sleep all through the actual chemo treatment. The ice packs turned out to be not nearly as bad as I'd imagined. Instead of buckets for my hands and feet, they wrapped them in a flannel wrap with ice packs tucked inside. I was able to use my hands as needed. I wasn't up for watching a movie or writing or reading because I was so tired. My feet got pretty cold, but nothing unbearable. I brought a flax seed bag from home and had that heated and kept that on my body. D and M took turns reading to me, so it was all ok and the 4 hours passed pretty quickly. My chemo book of choice has been the Succulent Wild Woman and what I remember from today was a bit about getting together in groups of women for different purposes- to eat, to create art, to talk about finances in a fun way, to clean, to have fun. I would really like more of that in my life. I had such fun creating bras with the group of women (and of course the wise man F, who actually came and made a bra!) and I've gotten really good feed back from other women who were there about how much they enjoyed it too.

After the chemo I came home and had a nice long nap. It was so nice to be able to sleep and my house had been cleaned today and my bed freshly made, so I was super happy and comfortable. My counselor came for a home visit and we had a nice long talk. We talked about ways to get more involved with groups of women, and I like the ideas we came up with.

I took the steroids last night, and again today. I haven't felt any effects from them at all and they are just tiny little pills. I guess I won't be competing in the Olympics any time soon, but I can live with that. Two more doses tomorrow and I'm done until the next two weeks.

I was given the fund raising money yesterday from the Valentines Day fundraiser where my co-workers did a parents night out and babysat a bunch of little kids. I am so touched and happy about it. I would like to thank all of the women who gave up their Valentines night to do this for me. It means so very much to me. I have gotten enough fund raising money through that and other events to pay for a big chunk of my medical bills. This frees me up to continue with the alternative stuff- acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, etc. that I think is really helping to manage the side effects. So, a big THANK YOU to all who have helped me in this way.

Also, a big THANK YOU for all those who have helped with the girls. I think they do better when they don't have to be around me when I'm sick in bed.

And, a big THANK YOU to the yummy meals I've been getting for months now. It is so nice and helpful to not have to try to cook for myself and the girls when I'm just not hungry most of the time. The food has been nourishing, healthy, and delicious.

I truly believe that I live in one of the most amazing communities in our country. I am SO HAPPY that I decided to settle here.

All things considered, it was a good day.