Must be the Chemotherapy

Hi Team,

This has been an eventful week. Had my chemo a week ago Tuesday so I'm officially almost to my "nadir" or low point of the cycle. That is when my immune system is at it's weakest, the chemo has cycled through my blood stream and the body is killing off all those cancer cells, and just about any other cells that might get in the way. I have definitely been feeling it in a big way this time, but I have to keep reminding myself that is the feeling of the cancer shrinking, and the great part is that I know it's shrinking! I have also had what I have determined as success in keeping active this time around, every day so far after chemo I have walked at least 1.5-2 miles every day. Granted I walk very slowly since I get out of breath just climbing the stairs to my apartment right now, but I do think being active has helped me keep the momentum going and enjoy my days more.

Dad left last Friday early in the morning, and Mom moved back into my little apartment. There is certainly nothing like having your mom take care of you. Our next project, however, once I'm not feeling so sore is going to be to go through all my stuff and donate as much as possible. We've already taken a few bags of clothes to goodwill, but there is nothing like being in your apartment all the time with other people there all the time to make you feel like you have too much STUFF. Way too much!

Saturday Anthony decided to do his own fundraiser for me down in Orange County. He got all our friends down there to chip in for him to wax his chest and back and shave his head! He had a friend get all the supplies and do it in their back yard, and I got to skype in and watch the whole 2 and a half hour ordeal. It was awesome of him to do that for me, I know he's never felt the pain of waxing (welcome to just a taste of what women do for you men!) and it had to be traumatic for that to be his first time. I was really impressed and appreciative once again at the generosity of all our friends to chip in to help me out with my medical expenses too. He actually looks really nice with a shaved head, I don't have a picture yet but will post one of us with our matching haircuts soon.

Yesterday I had got a bit of a scare - got two dizzy spells in the morning where I started feeling dizzy, losing my vision and felt sure I was going to black out, so I laid down on the floor and just tried to breath. Luckily, I did not end up passing out, but as I was resting my blood pressure was down as low as 105/52 where it is normally somewhat high (130's/80's). I was still feeling woozy and lightheaded 45 mins later, so we called the kaiser advice nurse to find out what to do. I really did not want to go to the ER again, but at the same time mom did not want me passing out on her watch. So we called, and of course anytime they hear "chemotherapy patient" they want you to come in immediately because they know you are high risk. Long story short they determined that I was dehydrated. Which is weird because I've been drinking 2-3 liters of water a day, plus little bits of fruit juice, sparking water, soup, etc. So I'm really not sure how exactly I got dehydrated, but they had me on a saline IV in the kaiser medical building for 4 hours yesterday before finally feeling ok to release me. I got another call this morning from the oncology nurse wanting me to possibly come in today to get another liter of water via IV but I convinced her that I was feeling normal and my BP was back to normal today, so unless I feel weird, I don't need to come in. It's just so weird doing everything you possibly can, and believe me, I'm a pretty diligent patient, and still getting dehydrated or just not being able to keep it under control.

So, we have a joke - because if you don't laugh you have to cry - when you have all of this whirling around you, trying to keep track of it all - you just can't explain why/how something happens sometimes, so we say "must be the chemotherapy." Ie. Wow, that was a weird stomach cramp. Huh, must be the chemotherapy. Also, how do you think you got dehydrated? Not sure, must be the chemotherapy.

Love,
Amy