Yet another treatment over with

The Former Boyfriend didn’t sleep well last night, so I decided to do another update to keep everyone informed.  Okay I’ll admit I didn’t sleep that well either but they pump me full of steroids before pumping me full of Benadryl  before getting on to the strong stuff.

So, I’ve finished the fifth treatment of taxol, only 7 more to go on the chemo train.  I’m not really sure where the train is going perhaps Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, where I hear it’s lovely this time of year.  

Seriously, I haven’t noticed many side effects yet, but I know that I’m a mere babe in the chemo woods.  They tell me that by the end of treatment I will experience severe fatigue.  I can hardly wait!  It’s like being a kid and having to eat all the cereal in the box before you get the toy.

I continue to navigate the taboo world of alternative medicine in an effort to salvage my body from the wreckage of conventional cancer treatment.  And I must say, I haven’t fared too badly. I haven’t missed any work so far.  What a shame that people have to search for holistic treatment like drug addicts in a dark alley or else face the disdain of their doctors.

Despite the upcoming holiday no holidays from chemo. They won't be infusing on Thanksgiving (nor black Friday for that matter). But they did manage to get me in first thing on Wednesday so I stay on schedule. The girls who do the scheduling have worked magic for the most part, which helps make it all just a bit easier. 

All in all a good week

Taking care of me is a full time job and the Former Boyfriend is exhausted and stressed more than he’s willing to admit (picture George Jetson on his treadmill – for those of you old enough to remember) so I decided that I would take the time to update everyone today.

It’s been a week of good news.  Since the passing of Louise one of the traditions that I have carried on is Thanksgiving dinner.  I didn’t believe I would be able to do dinner this year, so my nephew Josh called on Veterans Day and said that he would take care of the details and nephew Jake and wife Elizabeth are graciously hosting this year’s dinner.  I had tears in my eyes. It’s a special day for me.

This was followed by my friend Elisabeth calling to let me know the love of her life Bart has proposed marriage and she’s accepted.  She’s been my rock through all this chemo and together they’re a wonderful couple and Johnny and I are very excited for them and can’t wait for all the wedding details.

Today was my 4^th in a series of 12 chemo treatments with taxol.  All of my blood work looks good, and I feel good.  A big part of this is Kim and Beth my chemo nurses.  They are two very funny, kind hearted individuals making this part of the journey as easy for me as they possibly can.

We're so boring I haven't written (and that's a good thing)

Jeannie has now had two rounds of the Taxol and overall she's done quite nicely. There's definitely  a fatigue factor. She about dozes through the entire infusion since they dose her with IV benadryl before the chemo. The drug itself often causes an allergic reaction, thus the benadryl. She really hasn't reacted so the benadryl dosage was cut in half for the second treatment. Since she didn't know how she'd react she took a long weekend for the first treatment. But after the second treatment she went right back to her old routine, heading to work after the treatment.  Her weight is holding steady, her appetite is good. Over the weekend she commented that considering the steroids she gets in the pre-treatment meds she's not at all surprised she has a good appetite. Her white blood count remains strong, while her red count is on the anemic side. She's fired up her juicer to try and build that up.

Though she admits she's feeling fatigued she's still doing things like taking the dogs to the park for walks both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday she did a load of ironing while watching what was supposed to be a football game. Sunday she did some cleaning in the garden. She also did cleaning in the house and dog walks through the neighborhood. So she's a bit drained but has really done phenomenally well for what they're putting her through.

So all and all no excitement. Like I said kind of boring, but that's a good thing. Since Thursday was Halloween everyone was in costume when we showed up for Jeannie's treatment. I don't know if they do that every year (and don't want to be there next year to find out) but the fact is it was a great idea on someones part. It was great for employee morale not to mention the spirits of the patients. And there were a lot of great costumes. We didn't get to see them all. But the funniest might have been a guy who walked in looking normal, prompting a coworker to ask what he was supposed to be. At that point he opened up his jacket and said "I'm Jake from State Farm". Sure enough this guy had on a pair of khakis and a State Farm polo with a name tag that said Jake looking for all the world like the guy at the State Farm call center in the TV commercial. The 60s tie dyed hippie was also pretty good since we share the same hair color leading me to suspect he had some first hand experience in actually being his character once upon a time.

Jeannie is continuing to avoid all contact with the outside world where possible to avoid any bugs anyone might be passing around. She's also continuing to be as low key as possible but word might be poised to leak out in the neighborhood. On our late afternoon/early evening dog walk last night we spoke with a neighbor who did a double take on her ball cap since there used to be hair everywhere. But short of asking something like did you get your hair cut really short there's no real way to politely ask what the hell is going on. Many people would wallow in all the attention they'd get from being in her situation. Jeannie is more about getting it over with and moving on as soon as possible the less said the better. As always, Louise's daughter.