Round Three of Chemo - I Won This One!

I had my third session of chemo today, and didn't feel that bone chilling coldness that crept over me the last time. Thank heavens, that was an eerie feeling.
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Once I came home, it was three in the afternoon, and I crashed until seven. But, I didn't sleep well last night and it might have added to the need for sleep.
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Also found out that since my diagnosis of having a Prepyloric Ulcer, I will need to go on a different chemo regimen, my second course of chemo, which was to last for four bi-weekly sessions, has now changed to every week for twelve weeks. So, that's an extra four weeks.
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There are finally two patients younger than me getting chemo. I don't know what kind of cancer they have, but so far, most of the patients are much older than I am.
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The Sisters In Action, supported breast cancer in the lobby with pink lemonade and cupcakes. Which I thought was nice.
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My hair is slowly coming out. No one stares at me with horror, so I'm good to go. I've had thin hair for years and jokingly told people that I had three hairs on my head. That prediction might come true. LOL
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But, I feel good. So life is great. The dh is wonderful during this time. We've spent a lot of time talking on the long drive back and forth, and the occasional lunch out after chemo. We're trying out different restaurants. We chose Chili's today, and at one in the afternoon, they had a thirty minute wait. So we went to IHOP. I love breakfast so that was my choice, and he ordered a sandwich that was enormous. He wasn't expecting that. The waitress even brought him a diet drink 'to go' when she brought the check. He didn't expect that either and remarked that it was a first.
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Picture of the white iris's, when I was administrator at Valley View Health Care Facility, a resident by the name of John Dauzat came into my office with a plastic bag. His hands shook so the plants sticking outside the bag were waving in the breeze. He brought them to my desk and said that he took them out of his garden, especially for me.
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John was a delightful man. Short, slim, he had a fantastic sense of humor. For Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras to the rest of the world, he wore an old-fashioned straw hat (one like Fred Astaire would wear) with a flower sticking up a foot in the air. It would whip back and forth as he walked up the hall. He had a gentle smile, and though he has been gone for years, I still remember him every spring.
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He brought me native Louisiana white iris plants. I planted them in one section by a pecan tree. Today, they surround the tree, as though they are playing merry-go-round. Their white blooms, while not as beautiful as their colorful cousins, have a virginal quality. When I see them, I always get a picture of John Dauzat in my mind, and a smile on my face. As long as I live, he will always be remembered.
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What more can anyone ask for, but to be remembered.
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Stressed! Who Me?

Last week was super busy. Monday was the chemo, Tuesday was the Neulasta shot to keep my white blood cells up, and also the phone call that I was scheduled to see my surgeon on Wednesday, there was blood in my specimen.
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Wednesday my surgeon told me I looked 'rough'...something a girl always wants to hear. Another prescription to cleanse the interior on Thursday as I was to have the interior peek show on Friday.
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Since I learned I had cancer in December, I haven't bothered to get my hair cut. Why? I was going to lose it anyway. But Wednesday I phoned my hairdresser to get a cut, and a brow wax, it's amazing how quickly that grows in, and I was scheduled for Thursday morning.
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Thursday afternoon I started to take the cleansing pills. Twenty in an hour, four starting at two pm with eight ounces of fluid, then fifteen minutes later, repeat the process. At eight pm, do the same process with the remaining twelve pills.
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My daughter came over and told me a funny story about a friend of theirs, he stated that he went to bed with his jammies on and by ten o'clock, all he had on was his running shoes.
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He wasn't far off the mark. I think that the instructions should state: Rent a portable commode, park it in front of the television and sit for twelve hours, beginning at three-thirty in the afternoon. A cell phone might be nice, though you can't get up to get the pizza delivery, but you can call a family member to bring you a sandwich and a drink. This process should also be in a private room, as any family member won't want to be in the same side of the house until this process is completed. So, it might be wise to pack an ice chest and park it next to you. A roll or two of toilet paper is also a necessity.
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Don't laugh. It's true.
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Oh, and Thursday was limited to apple juice, sprite, jello, and chicken broth. Nothing with red dye. If you could read through it, then you could have it. So, forget the sandwich and pizza, but the ice chest could store the jello and cold drinks.
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Friday morning I was at the hospital for six am. It didn't take long for processing, as I was not on the usual 'surgery' day. They took me in the special room they have for the procedure, and then tried to give me an IV. That didn't work. I have two sites on my left arm with horrid bruising, one is two inches long, the other an inch, thankfully my surgeon walked in and told them to go into the mediport. They slipped me some drugs, told me to open my mouth and sprayed a numbing agent that had a rotten, bitter banana aftertaste, they sprayed that twice. But within minutes, I was in la-la land.
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I awoke at eight, and was home by eight-thirty. The doctor took pictures of my Prepyloric Ulcer, which is a new diagnosis, but it seems to be on the mend. It was the cause of the internal bleeding. After another pass at the pharmacy. I sacked out on and off until noon. Those drugs have lasting results.
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Saturday was my chapter meeting date, and off I went. It was nice talking writing. That afternoon, the dh and I made it to a high school baseball game, we had a grandson on each side, and the weather was nice. The sun was out, it was in the seventies. Everyone was in sandals and shorts. I was in my sweats and wearing a jacket.
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Later that night, I had my first bout of nausea. It was awful. I had a little trash can tricked out in liners that stays in my bedroom, well I grabbed that sucker and made a mad dash to the bathroom. It took three bouts of that through the night to realize that under my excess weight, there are abs.
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Mad abs. Even if I cough today, it hurts. A lot.
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Monday, another blood sample. I still have a massive bruise on the top of my left hand from last Monday, and the two bruises from Friday, so they searched around for a new spot. That didn't work. They tried my wrist, which is a small vein and always hurts the most and managed to fill a very small vial, but that wasn't enough. So, yes, back on the top of my hand.
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I only have one more appointment this week, and that's to check and see if my heart is up to the challenge.
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Did I mention that my hair is slowly dropping out. It is. Wig.com is have a 25% off sale that ends today, so I might do some online shopping.
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Life is still good.
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Even if I do have an ulcer.
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Round Two: Chemo Wins!

As usual, there is a blood donation for the lab. This time it only took one stick of the needle. I have a lovely purple patch on the top of my left hand. At least it wasn't my wrist like last week.
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Then, after waiting for my lab results, I head back to the treatment room. There was only one chair available, other patients sat in all the other chairs, receiving drugs via the drip method.
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My nurse wasn't happy with the needle placement in the mediport, as blood wouldn't come up in the needle, so she restuck me. It doesn't hurt when she does this. I had to apply a cream, then a transparant bandage over the cream that covered my mediport an hour before treatment. This is to deaden the area, and works, as I didn't feel anything. Always a plus.
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They flush the tube then hung the chemo bag, it didn't take long for the chemo to hit. I wore a long sleeved sweater, and pulled it closer around me. A chill crept over my body and it felt like my body was on ice. Not the ice where you shiver and shake, but a deadlier ice, as though you died but your brain was still alive.
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But not for long. Thankfully, I fell asleep through most of the rest of the treatment.
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I still have the inner chill today.
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Alas, I also have other problems to worry about. My body is bleeding internally, somewhere. Some more tests are being scheduled while I write this blog.
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How do I feel? My spirits are up, the chill makes me want to snuggle in bed with my feather comforter, and my dh brought me a camellia and laid it on my computer.
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Life is good. Enjoy each day you have.
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