My Cancer Journey Part 6: Chemo week 3

Day 33 Sunday

Today, my thumb and forefinger on my left hand are numb/sore. I wore my suit to church, for the first time post surgery, and found it a little difficult to do up the buttons on my shirt due to the numbness in my left hand.  The good news is that i was able to wear the suit without much discomfort, and I was far more comfortable in the pews this week.

After lunch I had to get blood work done again.

Day 34 Monday – Bleomycin

I awoke feeling fantastic.  For me “fantastic” is having about 85% energy, no pain in my groin area, and the numbness in my fingers is hardly noticeable today.  After walking the girls to the bus stop I had breakfast and tidy’d up the house.

At 9am Molly Maid arrived to clean our house.  3 ladies came this time and cleaned our house from top to bottom. This time they even cleaned out the fridge. One of the ladies was cleaning under the range on our stove and found a chunk of concrete…

Yeah…I don’t know either.

I hadn’t lined up a drive to my treatment so Teresa worked through her lunch and left early from work so she could drive me.  At the treatment the nurse told me that my creatinine levels were slightly elevated, which means that the chemo drugs are affecting my kidneys.  So I have to drink a lot more fluids during the day.  UGH. I already drink 3 litres per day.  Now I am up to a 4 litres…I pee a lot.

After my treatment we met Allyson at home who brought us pulled chicken sandwiches for dinner and a cherry pie.  The kids all loved it!

I drank a lot of fluid this evening in an attempt to avoid a day like had last Tuesday where I was not well.

The good news however is that today I finished the first round of chemo!  I am 33% done!

Getting my Bleomycin Treatment

Day 35 Tuesday _Warning potty talk today.

If you recall, last Tuesday morning I awoke with ringing in my ears.  Well that didn’t happen this morning, in fact I have not had tinnitus in a few days now.  But I did wake up at 1am when Noah cried out. Then I lay awake for a long time. My mind would not shut off, it was like I was on some sort of stimulant…then at 400am it hit me…hydrocortisone! I am given intravenous hydro-cortisone with my bleomycin, in order to prevent a possible reaction to it.  Yes 3  hours later, I finally figured out why I was awake.

So I took some gravol and fell asleep.

3 hours later, at 7am, I groggily  awoke and went to the washroom.  I forgot to take a stool softener after the treatment, and paid for it this morning as I tore something down there…yeah, I know… TMI…but hey its part of the process! It hurt. Then I gingerly  washed up, even more gingerly walked the girls to the bus stop, had a smoothie, and went back to bed.

I awoke at 11am and I felt great.  I had a chicken sandwich for lunch and then had to go the washroom again…ugh. So this is something I have to be careful with, as infections are easily contracted in that uh..area…and I am immuno-compromised.  Looks like I get to enjoy a lot of warm baths in the coming days…

So while it is not a great day, it was certainly better than last Tuesday.

At 330 Jeremy came over to clean our living and dining room carpet. He did a great job; our formerly black carpets are now beige.  We also had coffee and pie and a nice chat.  It was good to see him again! If you need your carpets cleaned, he is the best. Check him out at this link Clean Evolve.

Day 36 

Today started as per usual, smoothie, walk kids to bus stop, kiss Teresa goodbye, and went back to bed.

I awoke around 930, when Kevin texted me.

Around 10am Kevin came over with Timmies coffee, and a Play Station controller.  We had a good chat and then played NHL16 and I won both games.

After Kevin left I decided to head out to Two EE’s farm market to get some fruit and veggies.

Today we had a meal delivered all the way from Aldergrove! Kathleen brought over a delicious chicken bacon ranch pasta dish, a veggie platter, and blueberry muffins.  The girls loved the pasta, and there was not much leftover when dinner was finished.

Day 37

I had a headache all day.  I did not sleep well last night, which is probably the reason.  I tried to do laundry but had no energy for it. So I spent most of the day just resting.

Around dinner time my headache was back, and my head was ridiculously itchy.  I then noticed that my hair was falling out.

My hair is falling out.

Day 38

While Monday was the final treatment day, today is the official end of the first cycle.  So now I am officially 33% complete.

Today I meet with my oncologist to go over my treatment and the side effects etc.  On a positive note my surgery seems to have almost completely healed. I have no more pain and the bruising is now gone.  There is some discomfort when I over exert myself, but I still technically have 2-4 more weeks of recovery for that. The worst of the side effects are the fatigue, numbness in my left thumb, and the occasional ringing in my ears. On Monday I start the second round, which is a heavy week. But I have 2 days of feeling alright before that! 1 day at a time.

This evening Renee is bringing dinner, and tomorrow we are going to attempt a date night out.  I will need a nap before that! Details in the next post.

Anyway, I have to run, Oncologist appointment in 20 minutes! Teresa is waiting for me…

God is good.  Jesus Saves.  Look to him.