It's been a week since the chemo. Feelin' pretty good other than the numbness in my fingers. Hasn't hit my toes yet as they say it might. It's a very weird feeling. Little things like reading the paper or a magazine become a difficult to do. Turning the pages can be frustrating. Hell, even typing is starting to suck. But I sure do love trying to update this blog as much as I can. It's my online diary. Enough complaining, things are good. No much to say. Waiting for the next one on Oct 7th.

vic

CHEMO DAY #4


Chemo day #4 has come and gone. Nothing exciting to tell because everything went well. I was a little freaked out waiting in the waiting room watching all my past (good) nurse's come out and get a different person for their treatment. Then my name was called . . . finally,  my nurse . . . the one who accidentally upped my dose the first time and put me into shock. The one who wanted to take a boring day and make it exciting. The same one who wanted to cheat death with my body..... "Hi, I'm Maggie. I will be your nurse today". No shit, I know who you are. If anything happens I will haunt you for the rest of my unearthly life.
That aside, she was great and the day was perfect. Home now and starting to get very drowsy. Hope to fall asleep soon.

PS. those of you who thought that I wouldn't be able to get my copy of STAR WARS on blu-ray because it's chemo day. No worries, I was lucky to find a Best Buy very close to Princess Margaret and as I dozed off to la-la land ( lovin' the benadryl ) Colleen ran through downtown traffic to pick up my copy. . . All is good.

vic

Had my usual pre-chemo appointment with my doc yesterday. They can believe how well I'm responding to the chemo. The results from my CT scan were amazing. All of my nodes that were enlarged have gotten smaller..... like way smaller. One that was 14.8 cm is now 5.5 cm. Another that was 2.7 x 1.2 cm is now 1.1 x 0.9 cm. Too many to list but great to hear. My liver is now 21.2 cm compared to 28 cm on my previous scan. They still consider it enlarged but it's progressing well.
All my blood levels are getting better as well. Finally broke 100 again with my hemoglobin. Currently at 108. Hasn't been this high since April of this year. So the chemo is doing the trick.

Now, the only down side to all this good news is that I will continue to do the full 8 cycles of chemo with #4 tomorrow. All the studies and cases suggest that finishing the treatment cycle will enhance the long term success of the cancer staying in remission. Also since I'm doing so well with it, that I should continue, and by the end of the 8th cycle I should have a full head of hair....yippie!!!!

till tomorrow with #4
vic

Almost forgot, I have a CT scan scheduled to tonight. Getting everyone ready for school etc, completely forgot. I hate drinking that crap to make me glow. I will have to get a scan every 3 or 4 treatments. With all my levels doing so well, they want to check and see if my lymph nodes and liver are shrinking as well, or at least staying the same. Won't find out any results untill next Wed. at my appt.

vic

Still feelin'good and back at work. The 5th & 6th days have now passed and have noticed some different side effects. As I said before, on the 5&6th days is when I can notice changes to my body due to the treatment. I never had this before, but I just started to get numbness in the tips of my fingers and a bit in my toes. According to websites, it's normal but my treatment dose may have to be altered. I will talk to my Dr. about it at our next meet. Can't do much about it right now. It doesn't hurt, just a freaky feeling.

vic

Well, got through the weekend with flying colours. It's a weird, scary feeling that I'm feeling so good. Things may change with every treatment, but for now things feel great. I'm starting to put on a bit too much weight, i think. Might be time to work out...LOL. All in due time.

FYI, I really do think my hair is starting to grow in. Seriously.

Thanks for all the kind acts and words to my family and myself. It really helps. I will post again soon. Next chemo not until Sept. 16th.

vic

CHEMO DAY#3


Took a bit of time to get under way ( not sure why) but I finally got in to have my martini this morning. Things went well. Once the benadryl goes in it's lights out. It really makes me doppey. Not that it takes much anyway. Everything seems to be going really good. Yesterday I had the appointment with the Dr. and all my levels are going up. Which is very good and kinda unnatural. Not getting any of the common side effects. So far. Out of all the side effects, I only seem to be getting the acne one. It's kinda run rampant the last couple days. But hey, if that's all I get... no worries-bring it on.

The doc is really happy with my progress so far. I guess my wish of retiring early will have to wait another 40 years...LOL. Kinda tired now and may go for a nap soon. I will post again in a couple days and see if all still goes well.

vic