Re-cap of round one of chemo...

Well, tomorrow is round two of chemo, so let's see what's happened during the two weeks:

The first day in the hospital was LONG. That was Wednesday and I was there from 7:30am until 5:30pm. Ugh. That first evening I had a special visitor...one of the Colondar models (Joe) was in town from Illinois. That was pretty cool to have someone over to the house to talk with who has been in my shoes. He said that I looked "great" for the first day of chemo. The next day, I had a friend stay with me all day to make sure I didn't have any super-fun (i.e. strange) reactions to the drugs. I was fine, but I mostly slept while she watched tv. It was just nice to have people there. That night, I went to watch my softball game and keep score. I even went out for food afterwards.

On Friday, I reported to the hospital to have my IV disconnected at 3:30pm. By 6:30pm, I was at the softball field ready to play. I only played about half the game. Afterwards, I was extremely jittery. So much so, that I had to go home and take some nerve pills. Of course, sitting still at the hospital that afternoon, my pulse was over 100. So, I don't know what it got up to playing softball.

On Saturday, I did my "flu shot." It's actually a shot to boost my white blood counts. But it actually GIVES me flu-like symptoms for a couple of days, so I call it my "flu shot." Isn't that just more fun than a sack of monkeys? (Shut up...you've never seen a barrel of monkeys, either, and it's my blog, so I'm saying sack.)

On Sunday, I had another visit with another special visitor. I went to lunch with a girl who was in the Colondar this current year (Trish). It was great to meet another local person who's been in my situation. The bad part about lunch was that mouth sores had begun, so it was hard to eat anything. Also, I was SO tired. I couldn't keep my eyes open. I got home and my cousin was watching golf. Perfect! I was asleep within seconds!

Monday, I got up at 6:15am and was at work by 7:30am. My co-workers commented that my eyes were half-way shut. I have no idea how I drove to work. I probably used the Force. By noon, I was "awake" and strong as a wookie. (Okay, maybe just an Ewok)

The rest of the time between treatments involved going to work six out of ten days in the pay-period and having mouth sores for about a week. I think I lost a few lbs because I couldn't eat. So, when my mouth is good, I have stuff in the food to gain it back before the sores return. I played in five more softball games (winning 3, losing 1, and 1 no-decision). And the rash...well, it's getting pretty bad. That is now the worst part of chemo for me. I only threw up once and the diarrhea was non-existent. But the rash is ugly and painful (and itchy). "Ever have a white-head on your eyeball?!?!?" (Know that movie?) No hair-loss yet...that comes with this next treatment. Happy-happy Joy-joy!!! Stay tuned...