Chemotherapy....isn't it romantic?

See when it comes to cancer, you can never assume anything. The last time I posted I was on Day 13 with one day left of chemo pills. I was doing relatively well with high hopes for a great week off. Boy, I was wrong.

I took my last pills on Day 14 and went to bed that night. I awoke the next morning to a mouth full of sores and serious bathroom issues. Again trying to avoid grossing out my reading audience, I will just say that I spent about 5 days in my bathroom. No fun. About the time that began to resolve itself the bloating began. My abdomen began to swell and I became increasingly more uncomfortable.

I went to the doctor for my labs and to discuss this round of chemo. He said we would have to keep me at this dosage to remain effective. I'm not thrilled if this means my entire week "off" will be spent dealing with side effects. I plan to discuss this at my next visit. The more pressing matter is my ever expanding abdomen. I am now caring about 10 extra pounds of fluid. I can't do anything except stay flat on my back to relieve the pressure. It's pretty miserable.

I am scheduled to go in tomorrow morning to have the fluid drained from my abdomen. It is supposed to make me feel instantly better which is what I am hoping for since Ed and I are leaving for Maine on Wednesday. At first I was very nervous at the thought of them putting a needle in my abdomen to pull off this fluid, but as the days have progressed and I've grown larger by the day, I can't wait to get to the hospital in the morning.

I thankfully have a reprieve on the chemo since Ed and I are taking this mini vacation to Maine. I will be starting my pills again on Saturday the 22nd. Can you hear the excitement in my voice? What a great way to end a romantic get-away....chemotherapy. There's just nothing more romantic.

Day 13 of 14

I am now on day 13 of 14 days of chemo treatment. While this round has been gentler on my body for the most part, exhaustion has been my problem this cycle. My hands and feet just started getting red and feeling burned yesterday although the entire soles of my feet have been peeling off. Gross, I know. My throat is a bit raw and I've had the occasional nose bleed, but as a whole, it's been so much better.

I have found if I want to be productive at all I must do it before I take my morning dose of chemo pills. Within 1/2 hour of taking them I begin to feel nauseous and just need to sit down. Sleep is preferred at this point, but with children in the house it's usually not happening. It's ok though, I go to bed early and try to get caught up that way.

Eating is random at best. Most days nothing sounds appealing. Often if something does, I attempt it only to find out my mouth or digestive track doesn't agree. You can only eat so much ice cream before even that loses it's appeal. I'm looking forward to the coming week when my appetite will return and my body will cooperate.

I also had another Zometa treatment and Avastin treatment this week. They were pretty uneventful although something in the mix caused me to run a fever of 102 for a couple of days. Who knows...it's a wonder all this chemical mess doesn't cause more issues than it helps.

I will have another round or two of the chemo before they scan me for results. I don't have a sense one way or the other about how it's working. My liver isn't as sore, but I have more swollen lymph nodes in my neck then before. We'll see soon I guess.

Thanks to everyone for your continued love and support. I can't tell you how much it means. I'd love to write to you all with personal notes of thanks, but I just don't have the energy. Please take no offense to my lack of response. Life is harder on this end than I convey on this blog. Your prayers and support help keep me going. Thank you.

So I'm signing off at day 13 assuming that 14 will be uneventful. I'll get back to you soon as we move forward in this journey. For now I'm going to enjoy my upcoming week off hopefully not talking or thinking about cancer.