RM 5105, ONCOLOGY & PULMONARY FLOOR Wow, it is amazing how much can happen in one day. Yesterday at this time I posted a simple blog that said I was tired of telling the same story over and over again. Well, I'll choose my words more carefully next time. At about 8:30pm I was standing in the kitchen getting a fudge pop and had a small belch. I felt a sharp pain in my left side. It came and went fast and I assumed it was just gas in my chest so I sat on the couch and watched a movie not giving it another thought. After the movie I pushed the recliner into the upright position and tried to stand up. When I did, the pain in my side was awful. I moved my arm around and twisted, thinking it was a pinched nerve but it didn't improve. Jeff walked with me up the stairs so I could go to bed but with each step it grew worse. Every breath was like a knife in my side with radiating pain through my back and up my neck. Within five minutes we decided to head to the emerge
Posts
CONTINUING TO TELL MY STORY I haven't felt like blogging lately. As time goes on I'm uncomfortable talking about myself all the time. Plus, it seems like it is the same story over and over and I'm tired of it, so how could others still be interested? But today some awesome ladies showed me that a story is not always about the beginning and the end, but the journey in between. Right now it is the part of the book where you push through because you are already invested in the story and you want to see how it ends. Well, the end of my story has not yet been written. God is with me just as much as he was on that first day and every page is important. I will continue to tell it.
SHORTNESS OF BREATH THIS WEEKEND Well, I was told this second round of chemo (treatments 5-8) could be easier than the first, and overall it has been when it comes to nausea and fatigue. I had an episode yesterday that has the jury still out though. This time I had to take steroids the day before, of, and after. The purpose of the steroid is to lesson the possibility of an allergic reaction to the chemo medicine. I don't know for sure, but I think I had more of a reaction to the steroid than the chemo drug this weekend! Friday through Saturday I had times where my face would get really red, dry, and hot. It was like my face was dehydrated and sunburned. I kept putting lotion on my face, blistex on my lips, saline up my nose, and artificial tears in my eyes. Then I would lay under the ceiling fan!! The problem with that is that the air would just dry up my lips, nose, and eyes again. Geeze! I don't know if this was the chemo drug or the steroid side effect. I al
TIME FOR ROUND TWO Chemo vacation is over and I'm reflecting during my quiet hour after Jeff is off to work, the kids are off to school, and Nikki hasn't yet arrived to drive me to that dreaded place. It really is a lovely building and the people are equally as lovely. But no amount of hospitality and warm decor can overcome the burning and sour feeling in my belly when I think about the chemo room. This break has reminded me what life outside of chemo feels like. On my two week regimen I had four days of feeling terrible, four days of feeling unfocused and weak, and six days of feeling not quite myself, but pretty good. On this break I got to add to that seven days of feeling like the old me. I still needed more sleep so I went to bed early and slept way in on the weekend, but overall I was back. I remember telling everyone how good I felt when I was pregnant with twins. I wasn't lying, I really "thought" I felt well. That was until after they were
MY CHEMO VACATION I am really enjoying this extended break (three weeks vs. two) between treatments. It's only one extra week but I would always spend so much of my good time dreading the upcoming visit again and I've been able to not think about it so much. Timing is working out great. On my old schedule I would have spent Easter in bed. Now it will be over two weeks after the last treatment. My sister Nikki is getting baptized on Easter and I plan to be the loudest one in the crowd cheering her on. This will be a day I prayed for for a long time. Last weekend was beautiful. Jeff and I went motorcycle riding, hung out on the patio listening to the kids play in the yard, and went to see Hunger Games. While we were riding we checked out some yard barns in Lowes parking lot. I was hot and just pulled my do-rag right off my head. The breeze felt great and I was far enough away to not see anyone's face who might have noticed. I'm getting so much more gutsy ab