Unhinged

I'm in the middle of feeling really crappy a few days after my last chemo. I have aches and pains, mostly in my abdomen, but also in my bones and joints and back, everything tastes disgusting, I feel starving and nauseous at the same time (and that really doesn't go well together), I feel like crying all the time and I just generally feel unhinged. Sure I can take stuff to minimize these side effects (and I do), but the bottom line is that I'm just going to have to feel crappy for a few days.

Benign Girl...

more the engrish!

Reprieve

I haven't posted for a while since nothing has been happening and I've been feeling good. Then it occurred to me that this is something worthwhile to share- I'M FEELING GOOD!! Last week following chemo wasn't bad at all, and now I've got a week off. Paul and Margaret are coming to visit from L.A. for the weekend and we have some fun things planned including a fire spinning party, a drawing workshop, brunch and a Crank Ensemble show. Can't wait!

numbers and dates

Tomorrow is round 2, part 2 of chemo. I still haven't bounced back from part 1, so, not really feeling quite ready. A few people have lamented bloggers lack of a calendar, so here's the rundown on my schedule:

9/10- Round 2, part 2
9/24- Round 3, part 1
10/1- Round 3, part 2
10/15- Round 4, part 1
10/22- Round 4, part 2
11/5- Round 5, part 1
11/12- Round 5, part 2
11/26- Round 6, part 1
12/3- Round 6, part 2
(all Wednesdays)

So, part 1 is cisplatin into my abdomen, and taxol into an IV (the hardest week), part 2 is taxol into my abdomen (an easier treatment), then week 3 with no chemo.


The really encouraging thing that happened last week is my CA-125 numbers have dropped significantly!!! Before surgery- 1,500; after surgery- 185; and after the first round of chemo- 14. That's an awfully small looking number compared to 1,500!!! But apparently the numbers can fluctuate during treatment, so I'm going to try hard to not obsess about them.

But, (yay!)

I'm leaking

Today I went for part 1 of round 2. It was a long day, but everything went well. I had lots of nice distractions, including a good, chatty visit with Serafine and a package from my sister Julie with a neon pink wig inside! But when I got home, I started leaking from the injection area where the chemo was put in through my abdominal port. The stuff dripping out is most likely the heparin, which is used to prevent clogging, and/or the saline solution used to flush the tubing out. So I called the gyn oncology after hours #, and after consulting with one of my doctors let me know that several people have been having the same thing happen, and they typically stop leaking by the morning. I'm finding that it drips out less when I remain horizontal.

It is very upsetting to have these weird things happening to my body.

Unfortunately

I asked Sarah, "Does this hat look ok?" and she answered, "It kind of makes you look like a muffin!"