14th Infusion

I've had a tough, tough week with fatigue and sadness at the loss of Cloudy. I lost 5 lb. put gained one back this morning. I have just been too tired to exercise. But I've kept up my chores and cooking because we had visitors from Tuesday through Thursday. It was good to have people because it feels like I have been confined to this house since I started chemo in April.

There were some issues with accessing my port ... Maria couldn't get it in twice and called for help from Elaine who finally got it in. This was a first for Maria!

My absolute neutrophils have plummeted to 0.2 and I am back to restricted activities. I am that way all the time so this will not mean anything different for me. I have undertaken those precautions since I first found out what I had to do during these times. Diane from Dr. Schaffer's office came over to speak with me about precautions and I had to sign a document saying that they had spoken to me.

I only have four more infusions after this!

Radiation

We met with Dr. George Trivette today and learned about my radiation schedule.  I will start daily radiations on August 22 and those will last for seven weeks. I will go for the simulation on Aug. 8 where they mark the area to be radiated (is there such a word?).

I have no clue what any of this will be like. Sure we watched a video but until you go through it, you will have no idea what to expect. I am not as terrified of this as I was of chemo. I seriously doubt that anything is as terrifying as chemotherapy but we shall see.

We will get through this like we get through everything else ... one day at a time.

Goodbye Cloudy

Cloudy McFurrball Campbell, April 26, 1997 - July 9, 2011

Just when I thought this crappy year could not possibly get any worse ... we had to put Cloudy down today. She had been off her food for a few days and her breathing had been very labored so this morning we took her to the vet. Even when Dr. Woodhouse came back and told us that there was fluid in her lungs and that her white blood count was elevated, I expected there to be something they could do for her. This was our strong feisty cat who had a clean bill of health not more than a month ago. It just did not seem possible that this was the end. But it was and I had to call Sarah to tell her to come to the vet to say goodbye to her best buddy.

And as we waited for Sarah, Cloudy sat on the counter top with her face resting on the back of my hand and my heart kept breaking.

It was so very hard to say goodbye to our Cloudy. I was the first one to hold her when she came into our family and I was the last one to hold her as she left us ... mine was the last voice she heard and the last face she saw.

Goodbye, sweet girl, thank you for the love and the memories.

5th TCH

At last with this one over today, I only have one more TCH infusion on July 28! I really cannot wait and three weeks cannot come fast enough.

I did not get the good nurse Maria but instead I got gentle Anne whom I had a couple of weeks ago. I did not mind, I liked her and she got the needle in on the first try, just like the first time. She got blood from the port too ... yay! Everything went very quickly ... the results of the bloodwork came back very quickly. My absolute neuts are 10.1 which is definitely up from the miserable 0.5 from two weeks ago.

I was done before 2 pm and it was wonderful to have all that time to check on work emails, get dinner going, and then make the filling for the chicken pot pies for tomorrow. My lunch of brown rice is packed for tomorrow so everything is done! Now to update all the blogs.

Insomnia

I've had insomnia for the first time since I started chemotherapy and I am pretty sure it is the Decadron. I took the full prescribed dose yesterday. Before the last TCH I had forgotten my morning dose and took only one dose when I remembered. I never take the dose on the day after TCH and I haven't noticed any effects from doing that.

I did not sleep a wink so at 4 am I got out of bed and started fiddling around in the kitchen. I made my pie crust for Friday's chicken pot pie dinner, and prepared lunch to be taken with me to my chemo session ... some kind of soup and crackers. I figure the more liquid I can put in me, the more liquid will flush out the drugs.

Now I am just waiting for hubby to wake up so I can get on the elliptical and do 20 minutes. I've been able to exercise every single day since Sunday ... I am very pleased with that!

I know I can only do what my body allows me to do but I have made preparations for upping my exercise and changing some eating habits once my last TCH is done on July 28. I have registered on a site called www.fitday.com -- it's free and you can track what you eat, how much you exercise, etc., etc. I have to get rid of this chemo belly ... so many woman struggle with this long after their chemotherapy is done. I will try my very best to beat this!

Big Witch Chemo Tomorrow

My 5th and second to last TCH is tomorrow! Dread and joy at the same time ... I am looking forward to almost being done and dreading the next week and a half. I know I can do it ... just don't want to go through all that. I can hear my grandmother's voice ... " Pull up your boot straps and deal with it!" I hear you, Nanny!

I've been eating soup and fruits for the last few days but today I did something really bad ... I had fish and chips for dinner and it was yummy! I ate all the fish, two hushpuppies and about 8-10 chips, so I didn't feel too bad. Life is short ... eat fish and chips!

I'm coming Big Witch Chemo ... I am coming! I hope my favorite nurse Maria is back from England ... I have missed her.

Company

We had company on Friday for the first time since I started chemotherapy in April. John's parents, sister and niece spent the night before continuing on to New Jersey for the Fourth of July picnic. I made dinner and then breakfast this morning and I did not tire myself out. I am still feeling good.

On Thursday I had my 12th infusion which means that I have only six more to go. I was almost not able to have my infusion because I had not had my EKG which had been scheduled for 8:30 am that day. Guess what? No one had called me to let me know it had been scheduled and no one had called to remind me. I cannot go to something that I do not know about. There was a mad scramble to get me an EKG before 1 pm and somehow they managed to get it done because I was not about to postpone my infusion. Someone was going to die if I had not had that infusion. Here I am doing everything right and some stupid scheduler who does not do her job, jeopardizes my treatment ... blooming idiot!

This was my Herceptin infusion so I didn't have any significant side effects. I'm just trying to drink a lot of fluids to flush the drug out of my system as soon as I can ... I can't stand the smell of it in my urine ... it just reminds me of what is in me.

Next Thursday is my fifth TCH and then I will have only one left. I've got my liquids (soups) purchased for next week. But in the meantime I am going to enjoy the long weekend!