Checkmate Chemo #3

My third chemo was like the others. The night before the hubs and I watched some TV. Took a Claritin before bed. Went to bed. Woke up. Put on my anti nausea patch. Got dressed. Drove to the hospital. Checked in. Waited until the nurse brought me in back. Got my port all hooked up. Blood drawn. Walked back to the Infusion Room and met Lara (my favorite nurse) and was brought to my "suite" where I'd get all chemoed up. I wasn't as nervous this time around, or sick the day before thinking about having to go through chemo and how it would knock me out. It was kind of exciting to know that I would be one closer to being done with the first four, and also one closer to being done completely with this process.

While everything else seemed to be the same the day of my third chemo, there was one thing different. I had to share my "suite" as I like to call it with someone else. She came in wanting to know where the "party room" is, and Lara brought her into my room...I definitely took it as a compliment because frankly some of the people who come into the Infusion Room can be a little dull and I like to spice things up no matter where I am. I was a little anxious at first about it, but within minutes we were chatting up a storm. Her name is Kelly and through our conversation we came to a realization that we were two of the three musketeers that were diagnosed the same week. Our lives were forever changed within days of each other. When I was diagnosed I knew there were two others but I always wondered how their process was going, how they were taking the news, chemo, surgeries, etc... I wanted to know if they had a lot of the same fears as I did. Finally being able to meet Kelly, through a crazy twist of fate, was awesome. I found out that she had already gone through chemo, and was on to the Herceptin stage and was having her surgery in November. We both were giving each other tips, calming fears and answering questions. It's amazing what a bond people can have when such a traumatic thing happens. My treatment takes roughly 2 hours from start to finish, but talking with Kelly it seriously felt like 30 minutes. I admire Kelly's strength through all of this, with small kids at home, I don't know how I could go through all of that with children. She also amazed me with her ability to be comfortable in her own skin and rock the bald look in style. She had told me that really the only time she wears a wig is when she is around her kids and might "embarrass" them, which frankly I don't think she could!  Unlike her, I have been very self conscious of showing off my grape in public but she has inspired me to work on my strength and being comfortable with myself and embracing "bald IS beautiful".  She is a great woman, and she shares her store on CaringBridge.

I can't quite explain it, but I wish I wish they could pair people up like a "buddy system" to go through chemo together. I do have my mom and the hubs with me when I go, but to have someone to compare the ups and downs and how they feel the days after their treatments for some reason can be comforting, and I don't mean by if they say they have a harder time, it just is comforting to talk to someone who knows EXACTLY what your going through.

After my chemo was done, I went home, ate, and relaxed. Then I got tired. The days following I was up and down with how tired I was. I could kind of gauge how much energy I had and could feel the exhausting creeping up on me. I didn't realize that I had an appointment for my VERY expensive and by expensive I mean approximately $10,800 (wtf) "white blood cell booster shot" the next day scheduled at 1:30PM. Which I did NOT realize until later Tuesday night and by later I meant after that area was closed. The hubs is already at work by this time and he's my driver because I don't entirely trust myself to drive for the first couple of days after my chemo because I can go from zero to pukey or zero to exhausted in about 5.2 seconds. I drove myself there, got er' done and drove myself home with some sort of miracle because I had this heavy, weird feeling when I had about 10 minutes left till I'd be in the comfort and safety of my home snuggling with my June.

Lesson learned: Always check my appointment times so they are early enough for the hubs to drive me, but not too early because we HATE waking up early.

I do have to say that I was not as nauseous this time around versus the last two times. I think I have my routine down and hopefully it works for the remainder of my treatments! The only difference is I'm exhausted. Thinking about how exhausted I am makes me exhausted. Ridiculous hey? I know. My appetite compared to the last two chemos is definitely there. I actually have to eat every couple of hours otherwise I get sick feeling. But at least I can pretty much what I want, although Taco Bell's cheesy gordita crunch sitll makes me nauseous feeling.  And surprisingly I've still lost weight. Not a lot, but frankly I needed it. Too much beer and delicious fatty foods over the years=Emily gained some weight. So I'm hoping this "chemo diet" that I'm on helps a sista out.

I still have peach fuzz on my head. It almost feels like my hair is getting thicker on my head, but I'm not sure if I'm losing my mind/hair or not...I guess only time will tell.....



Chemo #4 is coming up and that means that I'll be 50% done with this part and one step closer to dominating this thing called breast cancer!!

Well off to paint some trim lots and lots of baseboards ...lets hope I don't run out of energy otherwise the hubs will be a little annoyed! Bam! Only the rest of the room to do!