Round #2 of chemo therapy finished!

Well, here’s where I spent the day – just reclining and reading my book!  7 /12 hours – like a “real” job!   Ha!  I’m working full time at beating this thing called breast cancer, and occasionally I have to go ‘in’ to the ‘office’ 🙂 Too bad they don’t  pay me to sit here.  Tim sat in the chair to my left, reading, checking work e-mail,  and running errands for me, like grabbing lunch or a nurse when the infusion bags would empty.

Today we left the house at 6 a.m., picked up my fellow chemo friend I met last week, then got home at 4 pm to find dinner waiting on the counter!  Thank you Melissa!  How nice!  They placed me in this chair today in a room with only this chair and a bed, which an elderly lady was in.  She slept most the day. You can see I have a small TV to watch, but nothing was really on except talk shows and sports. On the other side of me, next to that cart by my chair,  was a blood draw chair, so patients filtered in and out all day long to get their blood drawn.  We saw two young dads there, one of whom told us he was a soldier from N.C.  being treated for lymphoma.   There were also several older patients, one a 58 year woman being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer.  I found myself feeling like one of the lucky ones!  My friend whom we drove to treatment today got her blood drawn and her white cell counts were too low for her to receive chemo.  She must now wait until Monday. I really do feel lucky to be tolerating this as well as I am.

We met with my oncologist for a thorough history and physical.  He told me I would be losing my hair soon, and when I told him I already had, and that this wasn’t my real hair he was very surprised and said it looked so natural! Whew that made me feel good.  He told us the effects are cumulative, so we can expect this round to get me down more than the last one, as far as fatigue, and he armed me with a morphine prescription just in case I get the headaches.  We pray that they won’t occur.  Tim will give me another shot tomorrow to boost my white blood count. Anticipating  pre-med early on in college, he had always dreamed of this!  I’m afraid it’s the closest thing he’ll get to be to becoming a doctor.

I have taken several jewelry orders, which I intend to fill tomorrow while still feeling good, but I enjoy continuing the things I am able to do.   It makes me feel like life is fairly normal, and that I am useful and productive.  Living life to its fullest! That is the “goal” in the end of this journey so I’d like to get started on that NOW, thank you!

To all of you who are praying,  I truly feel God answering them, a peace that passes understanding, and I’d just ask you pray especially Saturday through Wednesday, that the headaches won’t return and I will regain my strength quickly. Thank you so much!

UPDATE: THURSDAY 1/22/09 Nauseated since 10 p.m. last night and all through the night.  Took anti-nausea medicine three times through the night.  Next morning still queasy.  Otherwise feeling okay.