Calmer Waters

Seems like my tummy turbulence finally settled down today. As a result, I think I've eaten enough in the last 24 hours to make up for the calorie deficit of the past week. I even got up at 4:30 this morning to eat. I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep because I was so hungry. After a large snack, I blissfully fell back asleep.

I'm glad the nausea and vomiting is behind me. It really wore me out this week. I was starting to feel quite beaten down after 5 rough days in a row. Also, it looks like my shingles have almost faded away.

Now I'm hoping the next week 3 weeks of recovery time will be smooth sailing. I'm not interested in having any major scares like I did last month with the hemolytic anemia. I'm also hoping to feel good enough to get, do I dare say, 3 runs in a week. OK, how about at least 2 runs in a week.

As always, thanks for all your support. It keeps me going.

So Busy Sleeping

I've finished Round 2, so that makes me a third of the way through chemotherapy. I like the way that sounds. It was a bit harder this time even though I had only 3 days of chemo instead of 4. Basically, I had my fourth day piled on Day 1, which made me really wiped out on Monday. The typical side effects of nausea and vomiting started with a vengence on Day 2. Definitely not a recommended way to lose weight! With a metabolism cranked like a hummingbird's and an appetite of a gorilla (good visuals, huh), if I miss a meal or my meal comes back up, I lose weight. So, in the last few days, I've lost 5 pounds. Sadly, most of that is probably muscle weight that is disappearing, since I'm not able to run like I usually do.

Good news is that my shingles are retreating and my blood counts are doing all the right things. Now if I can just eat some food, I'll be doing good.

I feel like I'm getting a cancer/chemotherapy-induced eating disorder. Certain foods that haven't stayed around long in my system just don't seem that appealing to me anymore. Oh and the smells....I never know what is going to make my stomach flip. A definite guaranteed gagger is women's perfume. So, please chicks, when you visit me, please leave your favorite scented product at home. Sorry to be so picky, but I'm much more fun when I'm not hanging around the porcelain pedastal in the bathroom.

Seems like a common question I'm getting is if I'm getting cabin fever and going nuts spending so much time at home. All I can say is "There's no time for going stir crazy cause I'm so busy.....sleeping!"

Hanging Tough,

Wildwood Diva

Rebound to Round Two

After a very stressful week, my counts, body, and psyche have recovered enough to start Round 2 of chemotherapy tomorrow on Feb. 4. It seems like the culprit for the hemolytic anemia was the Dapsone. My red blood counts have rebounded to slightly below normal, but my liver is still showing signs of processing destroyed red blood cells and stress with an elevated bilirubin level. The severe fatigue faded away by the end of the week and I bounced back enough to run 30 minutes on Friday and Sunday and not have to spend the rest of the day in bed sleeping to recover. Yes, that's what happened last weekend. Never would I have thought running 30 minutes could and would be so hard to do.

I'll have another blood test before starting treatment tomorrow to make sure everything is OK to proceed. This chemo round is different than the first one. All the same drugs, just different sequences and less days. I am scheduled to have three drugs tomorrow, Rituxin, Fludarabine, and Cyclophosphamide. I just had Rituxin on Day One last time. Then if it goes well, I only have Fludarabine and Cyclophosphamide on Tuesday and Wednesday and won't have a fourth day of chemo.

Even with the trail troll this week of hemolytic anemia, the tumors (which are located in my lymph nodes throughout my body) have continued to get smaller. If you look at my picture on the blog base, you will will see tumors on the side of my neck and under my chin by my left ear. I had tumors on both sides of my neck and under my chin along my jawline. In the picture of this update, the tumors are gone. It's been over 7 1/2 years since I've been without those tumors! That's certainly something to smile about.

One troubling thing is that the shingles have reactivated on my chest and neck. If you remember, I was hospitalized in August for a week due to a serious case of shingles. They have continued to smolder since then and I have been on maintainence anti-viral medicine. Hopefully, this reactivation won't affect my treatment schedule.

Oh, in case you're wondering, cancer treatment is really, really expensive. It pays to have excellent medical insurance, which I am fortunate to have. My first round of chemotherapy including day 5 of the shot in my stomach was $24,000. Yes, that's $24,000. My IVIg treatment last Monday was $6,000. I'll let you do the math. It's no wonder that the Number 1 reason for bankruptcy in the U.S. is medical bills. So please, take my advice, don't skimp on medical insurance. You never know when life might send your health into a tailspin...like when I was diagnosed with leukemia at 38.