One Down

I'm 25% finished with chemo--yay!  So far no terrible side effects except for neuropenia--a tingling under the skin that feels like a part of you has fallen asleep and is waking up to the blood rush.  It was a little weird to feel it in my face as I was falling asleep last night, but it passed.

They give you benedryl and an anti-anxiety/anti-nausea med in the IV before they give you the chemo.  So, you feel pretty loopy before it begins and I've found the most important thing to do is to snag a chair directly in front of the tv so you get to control the remote.  After all, most of the patients were in and out quicker than me, so longevity equals priority in my book.  That's an extension on Darwin's theory of survival in case you were wondering.

A lady in the chair next to mine was on her 7th treatment for ovarian cancer.  She has one more to go and I imagine I'll see her next time.  She is stage 3 and they get about a 20% chance of survival to 5 years, but she's very positive and we all know how that helps.  2 people had their last chemo yesterday and the nurses gather round them, blowing bubbles and playing songs like "We are the champions of the World."  The grins were huge.

I have no nausea and the nurse said that the anti-nausea drug in the IV should last about 3 days.  I don't have a metallic taste, either (Carbo-platin, one of the drugs is based on platinum,) but maybe that's an accumulated effect.

I'm getting my hair cut on Saturday afternoon.  They say that your hair begins to fall out 10-12 days after chemo and takes a week to completely fall out.  Both drugs, Taxol and Carbo-platin, cause hair loss so I have hope in the face of overwhelming odds that I might be one of the lucky ones.  Another lady next to me was there for colon cancer and hadn't lost her hair in all her treatments.  Her drug is related to Taxol, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Oh, and today is my birthday.  Jesse is back to school today and now Christian is down with it.  Last year we had a terrible snow storm right before my birthday and it sealed us off--no presents or cake!  Don't think I don't let the men of my house ever forget that!  Now when asked how old I am I can say that I'm celebrating the 32nd anniversary of my 29th year.  So, if you can't do math, just go with the 29.  I prefer it that way.

I've put a beef stew in the crock pot and I'm going to find a decent bakery for some chocolatey decadence birthday cake.  But first, I must get out of these jammies!