The Final (Chemo) Countdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw   C'mon, click the link. You know you want to listen to Europe's The Final Countdown while you read this.


After much discussion (he spent just short of an hour talking with us this morning) with Dr. Kotz, we've decided that I will indeed have the 6th infusion of chemo, but it will be on Monday instead of today. We're going to give the shingles a bit more time to heal. 5 days, to be exact.


The shingles got a bit worse after I wrote my last blog entry. They started to sting quite a bit more, and itch like crazy (and there were more of them, but I was told to expect it to get worse before it got better). Thanks to my wonderful husband, I had relief in the form of Calamine lotion first thing Tuesday morning. Look at this grossness:

Again, little sleep was to be had. Normally I sleep in a position somewhere between belly and side. I can't sleep on my belly because of the expanders (they feel like rocks). My sides are tender because of the expanders as well (they poke). Now, with the edition of shingles on my head and ear, sleeping on my back (which was already difficult for me) is out too. Doug suggested I get an inverter, hang upside down by my toe nails. I half think he's serious. My sleep disruption = his sleep disruption.


Anyway, this too shall pass. At least the shingles aren't in a place where they rub against clothing or cause any other issues.


So, the countdown has begun. The final 5 days until my final chemo. And then, GOOD RIDDANCE CHEMO! My last chemo will end up being 12 days late, but better late than never (really, how many clichés can I pack into one blog post? Maybe a challenge I ought to try sometime.). Also, it's going to be icky. I can only take 1/2 the usual dosage of steroids before and after and he's cutting the steroids they give me during the infusion. The steroids help protect me against some of the side effects from the Taxotere, and the Taxotere has been the likely cause of most of my troubles. Whatever. I'll go through it one more time. ONE MORE TIME. And then I'll move on to other treatments. Speaking of which, Dr. Kotz wants me to go ahead and get the hysterectomy this summer, instead of waiting until the fall. He recalled a patient whose ultrasounds all came back negative but when she finally got around to getting her ovaries removed, there was cancer. A lot of cancer. He doesn't want me to wait unnecessarily. I found that convincing.


Since it is the end of the semester, and I do have mounds of student papers to grade, I'll take the extra 5 days with gratitude.


I'll leave you with this picture of my meds. These are almost all of the meds I've taken since surgery. The top row is almost entirely narcotics. Yuck! I'm so ready to be done with all of these!!!