this week

Ginger has come and gone and now Nancy is in town. We picked her up last night and today she's off running errands for me while I sit uncomfortably at work. Did you know work is kind of the safest place for me to be? I'm at the hospital so if something happened (rupture) I'd be right here for quick response. Even though sitting at my desk is uncomfortable and exhausting, I have to stay up on my work and not get fired, ya know? (They'll never fire me.)

I got my mail order chemo medicine on Saturday and in the end only missed out on 600mg. I survived. At my appointment on Tuesday, my hematocrit had dropped five points to 31 (36-45 is normal). The doctor thinks it is from a combination of things, but mostly because I'm finally at the peak dose of medication. It can cause low blood counts. She offered a transfusion, but we decided to give it a week and see if it continued to sink or if it will level out. It will tell us if it is the medicine or if I'm bleeding again. For me, it mostly means a higher heart rate and being slightly more tired.

I did figure out that I was nauseated all last week and I just didn't realize it. In my head, nauseated was the feeling just before you throw up when your mouth gets that weird taste. Not so. If you can't bring yourself to put a spoon of food in your mouth - nauseated. Now that I know this, I've been taking the Zofran and Compazine and feeling a TON better.

This is so boring, but I thought you might want an update.

My typical day:

8:30am - wake up
9:30am - take chemo drug
10:00am - work
2:00pm-3:00pm - home, nap, etc
evening - lie on the couch with visitors stopping in

Really not that different, but I get to work less ;) I even made pancakes on Tuesday for Pancake (Fat) Tuesday and had three friends over.

I also cried myself to sleep on Friday. Things aren't all sunshine and happiness 'round these parts.