What a day! - UPDATED
If I learned one thing today, it is that I am NOT yet back to my old self. My tolerance for life without a nap is exactly ZERO. Fatigue is still a very real part of my life and, based on my research, this could go on for months! We haven't even officially added in the added fatigue from daily radiation. WOW!!!!!! Don't worry, I know I have to give myself time and this old body has been through a lot in the past 7 months, but you cannot fully appreciate how much I want to get back to normal...or close to it. UGH! I would go abuse our punching bag to get out some frustration and get some exercise but I'd probably collapse into a deep sleep and injure myself. I am on a mission to get this fat butt into some sort of shape, other than a sphere, but I have to pace myself...did I say UGH!!! yet? lol
So, an update was promised so let's get this thing going. Bobby and I started our day by dropping the kiddos off at school (for a few minutes of our day, it's as if we are normal people!) and then it was off to my 8 AM appointment. I spent some quality time with my infusion family - it's been couple of weeks since we've gotten to enjoy each other's company. The topic of the day seemed to be hair - new styles (nurses), new wigs (me), regrowth (me), I learned about "chemo fuzz" (intriguing), styling tools (I was providing info on my fav tools - I did have hair at one point, remember. When I was diagnosed it was past my shoulder blades...now it's barely past my scalp!!), we also talked about new protocols (for the nurses...also intriguing) and about online shopping. For those of you who do not know me personally, I do not like to go shopping in a store. I LOATHE IT! If I could do my grocery shopping online, I would. My lowest point was the year that I ordered all of my Christmas gifts wrapped. I took them out of the box and put them under the tree...done! I haven't done that in a long time, I figure I should at least put the effort in and wrap them personally. Aaaanyway - in addition to these topics I learned something about when nurses (as students) actually get to work on real people...intriguing. Never a dull moment!
Back to the boring details! Had a good chat with my oncologist and his nurse. We discussed my cold and the side effects of Tamoxifen. The cold is finally letting up though I still have a cough from time to time and my voice cracks sometimes. No nuisance side effects from the Tamoxifen thus far. Hot flashes and night sweats are the most common. Chemo gave me hot flashes so that's nothing new and I'm not having night sweats so, so far so good. The really serious stuff could show up at any time (blood clots, stroke, uterine stuff) so we just have to keep an eye on things. We discussed radiation and how we could coordinate my treatment schedule to make it as easy as possible.
After meeting with the doc it was on to infusion. I'm still not used to how quickly I now get hooked up and unhooked. It's a beautiful thing. I'm still there for a couple of hours but it used to be twice that! All went smoothly and we were on our way. We left the clinic, headed home to switch cars and were on our way again for, what turned out to be, our 4 county tour. Woohoo! We traveled on to Lex, grabbed a very quick bite (yes, drive thru...it's all we had time for) and it was off to the hospital. `
(We pause here because the above referenced fatigue means that I must now sleep. I'll finish tomorrow)
LTA - ACD
Ok, I'm back...still exhausted but here. Where were we??? Oh yes, on to the hospital. We are rolling on down the road to radiation. We had a lengthy chat with the nurse then an exam and chat with the doctor. She is FABULOUS! We discussed planning, treatment, side effects, attitude and we found time to laugh. That's always a good thing. Sounds fun, right? Well, we weren't done yet. You don't just start radiation. You have to get scanned and marked up first then on to more preparatory work. Yesterday's preparation consisted of meeting the team of lovely ladies who will be administering my treatments. They are a HOOT and we are doing to get into trouble...I can feel it. During our session yesterday I had a relaxing CAT scan then they broke out the Sharpies and gave me some ink on chest. Just when I thought it couldn't get any uglier, they drew Xs and lines in permanent marker and covered them with, what look like scotch tape circles. Technical stuff!
Once the scanning and the marking was done I was taken on a little tour. Since radiation therapy patients get treated daily, we get our own check in system, waiting room, dressing areas, etc. It's kind of self service other than the radiation part. After the tour we discussed scheduling. I have to go back Monday for a fitting, of sorts, on Tuesday they'll do the "test run" and the radiation will actually start on Wednesday. The 33 day countdown will start then. So there you go!
Now that day probably doesn't sound like much to you but I was spent when we got home. As I mentioned before, I sat down for a few minutes and ended up getting a bit of a nap. I slept hard last night and then slept for almost 4 hours more after the kids went to school. That's like chemo level fatigue and I didn't even have treatment yesterday! I'm hoping I'll adjust quickly but we're almost in the home stretch so I'll listen to my body and rest when it tells me I need it.
Time to sleep again...I just can't get enough.
Back soon,
Love to all
Andee
So, an update was promised so let's get this thing going. Bobby and I started our day by dropping the kiddos off at school (for a few minutes of our day, it's as if we are normal people!) and then it was off to my 8 AM appointment. I spent some quality time with my infusion family - it's been couple of weeks since we've gotten to enjoy each other's company. The topic of the day seemed to be hair - new styles (nurses), new wigs (me), regrowth (me), I learned about "chemo fuzz" (intriguing), styling tools (I was providing info on my fav tools - I did have hair at one point, remember. When I was diagnosed it was past my shoulder blades...now it's barely past my scalp!!), we also talked about new protocols (for the nurses...also intriguing) and about online shopping. For those of you who do not know me personally, I do not like to go shopping in a store. I LOATHE IT! If I could do my grocery shopping online, I would. My lowest point was the year that I ordered all of my Christmas gifts wrapped. I took them out of the box and put them under the tree...done! I haven't done that in a long time, I figure I should at least put the effort in and wrap them personally. Aaaanyway - in addition to these topics I learned something about when nurses (as students) actually get to work on real people...intriguing. Never a dull moment!
Back to the boring details! Had a good chat with my oncologist and his nurse. We discussed my cold and the side effects of Tamoxifen. The cold is finally letting up though I still have a cough from time to time and my voice cracks sometimes. No nuisance side effects from the Tamoxifen thus far. Hot flashes and night sweats are the most common. Chemo gave me hot flashes so that's nothing new and I'm not having night sweats so, so far so good. The really serious stuff could show up at any time (blood clots, stroke, uterine stuff) so we just have to keep an eye on things. We discussed radiation and how we could coordinate my treatment schedule to make it as easy as possible.
After meeting with the doc it was on to infusion. I'm still not used to how quickly I now get hooked up and unhooked. It's a beautiful thing. I'm still there for a couple of hours but it used to be twice that! All went smoothly and we were on our way. We left the clinic, headed home to switch cars and were on our way again for, what turned out to be, our 4 county tour. Woohoo! We traveled on to Lex, grabbed a very quick bite (yes, drive thru...it's all we had time for) and it was off to the hospital. `
(We pause here because the above referenced fatigue means that I must now sleep. I'll finish tomorrow)
LTA - ACD
Ok, I'm back...still exhausted but here. Where were we??? Oh yes, on to the hospital. We are rolling on down the road to radiation. We had a lengthy chat with the nurse then an exam and chat with the doctor. She is FABULOUS! We discussed planning, treatment, side effects, attitude and we found time to laugh. That's always a good thing. Sounds fun, right? Well, we weren't done yet. You don't just start radiation. You have to get scanned and marked up first then on to more preparatory work. Yesterday's preparation consisted of meeting the team of lovely ladies who will be administering my treatments. They are a HOOT and we are doing to get into trouble...I can feel it. During our session yesterday I had a relaxing CAT scan then they broke out the Sharpies and gave me some ink on chest. Just when I thought it couldn't get any uglier, they drew Xs and lines in permanent marker and covered them with, what look like scotch tape circles. Technical stuff!
Once the scanning and the marking was done I was taken on a little tour. Since radiation therapy patients get treated daily, we get our own check in system, waiting room, dressing areas, etc. It's kind of self service other than the radiation part. After the tour we discussed scheduling. I have to go back Monday for a fitting, of sorts, on Tuesday they'll do the "test run" and the radiation will actually start on Wednesday. The 33 day countdown will start then. So there you go!
Now that day probably doesn't sound like much to you but I was spent when we got home. As I mentioned before, I sat down for a few minutes and ended up getting a bit of a nap. I slept hard last night and then slept for almost 4 hours more after the kids went to school. That's like chemo level fatigue and I didn't even have treatment yesterday! I'm hoping I'll adjust quickly but we're almost in the home stretch so I'll listen to my body and rest when it tells me I need it.
Time to sleep again...I just can't get enough.
Back soon,
Love to all
Andee