Round Two RECOVERY - Week One

I've been told by doctor's that the way I react to round one of Chemotherapy is the way I'll react to each round.  Boy, did they lie!  This last week, for lack of a better term, has been HELL.  

Round two was on a Friday afternoon and I went back to school the Monday after.  I discovered very quickly that having spring break off during my first round was VERY IMPORTANT.  I was so exhausted last week that I could barely keep my eyes open.  I actually couldn't keep my eyes open.  That's never happened before.  My bone pain wasn't that bad until Wednesday.  By then, I was done moving around.  Simply moving was nearly impossible.  Between that, developing a fever, and a few other gross side effects that I'm not going to explain here, I ended up missing work on Thursday and Friday.  I was NOT happy about that.  My mouth has been extremely dry this time around.  I don't know if dry is the way to explain it.  It's this weird chalky feeling which makes it a challenge to swallow and even talk at times.  Needless to say, I'm very grateful that my next two rounds of chemotherapy will be during the summer when I don't have to worry about doing ANYTHING.

This time I had the IV through my arm, towards my elbow.  This bruise is over a week old.  Last time it went into my hand and I didn't bruise.  Won't be doing this again.  

Let's see, the positives from this past week:

I received a package from my cousin last week.  He made this crown for me.  I was told to wear it on days where I needed a confidence booster, or to feel like I needed to be in charge of something regarding this situation.  I have a feeling I'll be wearing it soon.  Such a sweet gift.

The shirt for my New Kids on the Block concert is finished and on it's way to me.  An old friend has a friend who makes shirts and she worked with me to create this.  My friend also paid for this, which blew me out of the sky!

I am a HUGE fan of Greg Gutfeld.  He's on a few shows on Fox News.  Back in November, before all this crap started, I bought tickets to his show.  He doesn't do many, and just happened to pick Salt Lake as one of his locations.  Needles to say, I was very excited about this.  As last week progressed, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it.  Luckily, by Saturday I was feeling better, and determined to go!  I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.  It was definitely needed.  After the show I had the opportunity to have dinner with my Aunt and four of my cousins that I hadn't seen for at least 20 years.  So much fun!

I've been periodically stepping on the scale since I need to make sure my weight is where it's supposed to be.  I stepped on it Tuesday and about lost my mind.  I've lost 11 pounds since starting chemotherapy!  I've also been told a lot of people GAIN weight.  I don't see how that's possible.  Between the salty taste of food, and now only being able to finish about half my plate before I'm full, the weight is falling off.  So maybe there's another positive side effect of chemotherapy??  It's definitely motivating me to keep this going.  

Looks like I've had a few great positives this week that have almost balanced out the crap.  I have 8 school days left.  Then I can just not stress and let this all run it's course.  If all goes well, my last round will be the beginning of July, and radiation therapy will start in August.

Since I seem to be ending each post with a video, enjoy this from the Rascal Flatts.  I love this song, and the video is a great take on it.