three weeks later

Hello.  Today is the next dose of the new chemo.  Given how poorly it went last time, I am curious to hear what the doctor has in mind to correct the issue.  Extra Benadryl to start?  Slower drip so the infusion is more diluted?  Something entirely new?  I'll find out in a bit.

The side effects that were the most troublesome had to be the cold sensitivity and the daily nausea and vomiting while I was taking the pill version of chemo (two of the last three weeks).  The last week has been better though I am still very tired A LOT and occasionally nauseous.  I was told the cold sensitivity lasts around 72 hours.  My experience with it was a little different - it was really bad for closer to 5 or 6 days and even today there's a mild amount of discomfort when I reach for ice cubes.  Not too bad but it makes me sad that the cycle begins again today because as I have mentioned before, I really love ice cubes in the summer!

In other news, most of you already know that Dave is officially out of work now.  The last day for most of the corporate employees was to have been today but they gave most people the day off with pay so he's done a day early.  Yes this is a modestly scary thing to have him out of work (and really sad that Borders is all but a memory) but the truth is it's good timing as far as being my caregiver goes.  Not that there had been an issue while he was working since he was able to leave basically anytime I needed him (his superiors were very understanding about our situation) and we have many friends to rely on as well but as my health declines there will be more and more situations where I want only him to be there.  Almost a little like how a little kid wants their mommy when they're sick.  And he really deserves a break, to take more than a week off for vacation.  I have had a couple of times in my life where I was in a position to take a few months off between jobs to recharge, rethink and just plain relax and let me tell you, it's wonderful if you can swing it.  Since he's getting 12 weeks of severance we have some breathing room which is great. 

We began scaling down a while ago (this mostly amounts to going to the grocery store Meier as opposed to Hiller's - think Walmart compared to Whole Foods) as far as spending goes so even though we'll tighten the belt a little more for right now, we've been living pretty simply anyway.  I think getting rid of so much stuff at the yard sale helped with that "clear the clutter" mentality and reinforces the fact that we don't really need much to get by and still live reasonably well and within our means.  It's not like we're dumpster diving or switching to bottom shelf booze (well, I'm still not drinking but no reason Dave should have to drink martinis made from rubbing alcohol).

In "news that makes us happier than you could possibly know", last night we had a dinner that was composed of pasta tossed with pesto made from our very own basil and a big bowl of tomatoes from the garden - the first of the year!  Nothing like a garden fresh tomato and it looks like we're going to have a bumper crop compared to the last few years.  For whatever reason, we just weren't having success with tomatoes but this year has changed all that.  And normally we are very generous about sharing our garden bounty but I think we'll probably be eating every last one of those tomatoes.  We will have plenty of squash pretty soon for those who are interested.  :)

Well, off to chemo - wish me well!