Quick Recap:
The first chemo/21 day cycle treatment expected to feel SE near the end of the the first week. Nope! Near the end of the second week they started. (fever of 102, antibiotics, etc.)
The second chemo/21 day treatment expected the same kind of schedule starting on the second week. ha ha! right! Felt good until day 3/Thursday morning. After checking in with my bosses, it was decided that i would get more work done from home. But this time i also started having burning pain in my mouth, tongue, and throat. The meds needed to help with that is on back order. Hoping to find out if there is another med i can use tomorrow.
Now for the good news! i went in today for my day 7 labs, and all my numbers were about where we thought they would be. i do not have a fever, my platelets and ANC* numbers are low, but not nearly as low as last week! i will need to wear a mask this week, and watch out for any miscellaneous bleeding. Since this round the issues started early, and i am already working ahead on meds, i pray this means that for the next two weeks my body will be building up for the next round of chemo.
One interesting wrinkle, last week my scalp started feeling very sensitive. i could barely touch my head. For the next day or so, i was finding hair everywhere. on the pillow, on the chair, and perhaps the most unsettling, on the dinner table. Thinning and/or losing my hair is a known side effect from one of the chemos, but with the amount of hair i have, it was hard to tell which way it was going, or how long it was going to take! i decided, to be respective to those around me, my hair should just go away. (picture pigpen from the Snoopy cartoons, only it was hair and not dirt following me around.) 🙂 i still have my long wig, and most of my scarves and hats, so i am still covered. My co-workers never said anything, but i’m pretty sure they will feel a little better sharing a lunch table with me for the next few weeks.
And just in case you thought i was getting off easy this time through, so far i have pulled a muscle in my right shoulder and my left knee. There are days when i can’t tell if my body is responding to age, or to chemo. (i’m choosing to believe it’s chemo – at least for a while longer.)
All Praise to Him who created everything! He knows the end from the beginning.
*ANC=Absolute Neutrophil Count. A type of white blood cells that fight infection.
