So here I am happily going along, thinking this next chemo round will be better. I am excited about the prospect of being up and around more. Happy to think I won't have bone pain. No heavy steroid dosing.
Yesterday Lora, from the chemo ward (just my little nickname), called and said she needed to have a specialty pharmacy call me for my credit card information as she had to pre-order me a special drug. It is hard to get, she said. So they pre-order it and have it ready to for me to take home on Monday. No problem, I respond. "What's it for?"
"Well", she hesitated. Nausea and vomiting is the answer. My stomach lurches. What? Apparently this round of chemo typically has much more nausea than the other. I may very well be vomiting the next two weeks. Great. Just great. So we go from certain bone pain and aches to potential constant nausea. Now I'm thinking, maybe I should go back and rethink this. Which is worse the bone pain I know or the vomiting I might know? Maybe they think I need some help with the weight gain and this is the answer. This is the more traditional treatment for breast cancer, so maybe this is why other people have lost weight. I'm not seriously thinking of changing the decision the oncologist and I already made on this new process so I guess we will see.
Then I went off to get an echocardiogram and and EKG to ensure my heart function is acceptable before I start this round of chemo. The phone rang at 11 a.m. and I was at the hospital at 1 p.m. and stayed there until 2:30 p.m. Again I wonder how do people do it who don't have a flexible schedule? What if you are a teacher? Or a camera person for the news?
So we settle in for a quiet winter weekend, watching the inspiring athletes young and old of the Winter Olympics. I amazed at their capacity for effort, joy and despair. I hope your family knows joy this weekend.
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