Chemo #7

I thought I had better try to take a quick minute to throw an update here. Things have been harder this time, already, so I may not get a chance to write again for awhile...

 

Chemo Friday started off with the whole concept of "divide and conquer". We had childcare stuff not quite go according to plan, so we doled out all the kids in different places. I took Kels to a friend in the ward who has a daughter her age, but had never been there before. She was not quite sure she was wanting to stay, and Ky was a big help to try to make her feel better about staying. Ceana had already gone to work with Preston for the day. Kaeli, Caiden and Colton stayed home to work on homework and then the plan to go to the Jeffries for the afternoon and evening. I took Ky with me. As I shared in my previous post, we were shown a small kindness from a local business when I stopped to get Ky and myself a treat. It was an unexpected surprise. So thoughtful.

 

When we arrived we were thankfully given the "suite". It is the biggest room at the ambulatory center. It was good for lots of reasons - lots of guests - Ky with me and then Preston & Ceana brought lunch and stayed for a bit, plus nurses coming and going..

 

Terri was my nurse Friday. She is fun. What else was fun was watching her and the other nurses fawning, and "ooohing and aaahing" all over Ky. Every little thing he needed, they just jumped all over. He got the other big recliner, he got PBS and the remote, he got extra pillows AND several heated blankets, and juice in his new Dutch Bros. cup, and help with the laptop and extra movies. It really was pretty funny. No matter where we take him, he instantly wraps everyone around his little finger. We are in big trouble when he actually discovers this "power" he has over everyone around him :)

 

Friday really was an extra long day. Lab was way backed up and my blood draw took over 2 hrs to get back. Then my pre-chemo meds all came out of order. I was really glad that I had told Preston early lunch plan because just when they got there with lunch, Terri had the Benedryl come early vs later. She gave me a small amount, and then let me eat and visit while they were there. When she finally needed to give me the rest, it kicked in FAST. I had been trying to do a short post to the blog, but within seconds of the rest of the dose, my eyes blurred, and were instantly heavy and closed, and my head lolled back, and I was done. Preston finished the post for me, got Ky all settled with the laptop and a movie, made sure I was settled and then he and Ceana headed back to work. Cant really say what those last few hours were like since I was pretty much unconscious. Thankfully, I knew Terri was keeping an eye on Ky for me. About an hour before I was done, I started to come around just enough to help Ky a bit and text Preston to let him know I would need him to bring me Ceana so she could drive us home. It was almost 430pm by the time we were finally headed home. Because I was the only late Nulasta patient, I would have my injection postponed until Sunday.

 

We gathered up Kels from my friend's house. Thankfully they had a great day and the girls had gotten along great. Made me feel so much better. Ceana helped me get tKy & Kels a dinner snack, and then she was on her way out the door for her date night. The Benedryl stayed heavy in my system the rest of the evening. I had Ky, Kels and myself all in bed before 730pm. It was all I could do to stay vertical that long....

 

Friday night was another mostly non-sleep night. I had slept off the Benedryl by 1am, and then was just awake, never did go back to sleep. This was 3rd night in a row with same sleep pattern. Yesterday was pretty rough. I rested as much as possible, and have been babying bottles of gingerale since I have some underlying nausea that has popped up. A hot bath and a nap were finally in the plan by early afternoon. It seemed to have helped. Kaeli and I just hung out with Kels in the evening and watched a movie as everyone else was gone for the evening again (Preston & boys at cub scout B&G banquet, Ceana/John FFA Banquet). I was back in bed early again, hoping for more sleep.

 

Last night was a little better. Hot flashes are coming on crazy. It is really challenging waking up with me/bedding soaking wet. I was up early with nausea getting the better of me. Preston was wonderful to go hunt down some more gingerale for me in the garage and help me get it flat. It seems to have toned things down to tolerable. I have noticed since trying to get dressed and being up just a bit that there are "hot spots" already coming on with bone/muscle pain. Will have to keep an eye on those. Thankfully I have meds ready to roll, and refills to be had tomorrow if needed. I am just waiting now for Preston to come and gather me up to head down to the hospital. Adding the Nulasta today will most likely jump things up a notch, but thankfully I can just come back home today and rest and sleep. Will miss being at church after getting to be there so much this last month. Today, though, just have to listen to my body and obey. Have just learned that when I dont, things are alot harder. Hopefully, should be able to just lay low for the rest of the day.

 

We are still working on putting extra help in place for this week. Seems like we have lots going on, including having Preston and the girls out of town 2 days. Hoping that by today we will have extra hands to help for those days, and the rest of the week, knowing that I will be completely down and helpless to care for myself or the kids. Still a bit nervous about how the week is going to go, esp that things have already been hard since Friday. Just have to hope/trust that everything will work out ok.

 

Guess that is all for now. Will try to have Preston throw some other posts in during the week, esp about his/girls fieldtrip, and to just give small updates about me too. Watch for more to come soon.

 

Just a little PS - Preston and the girls have all observed that, though I have now lost just about all my eyelashes, that it appears that I have pure white "chick fuzz" growing on my head. Probably will see this come in by bits. Real hair wont start growing for several months after all the chemicals are out of my system. Preston has taken the initiative to see that this is a good sign and the go ahead for him to start growing his hair back. It has been surprising, actually, to see how fast his is growing back. Another few weeks and you wont even be able to tell that he ever had his hair gone. He has been so sweet, all these months, to support me in this way. It will be good to get some "normal" back for him