Today is Chemo Day. Infusion number six or more officially Three B. You get an infusion every two weeks and two infusions equals one cycle, hopefully that makes sense. After six cycles I win a lifetime supply of motor oil. So I am on Cycle Three, Session B. If all goes well I've only got one more cycle (two infusions) left to go. While I'll have to give up my dreams of winning the 10w-40 I do get to have the bane of my existence, the Picc Line, removed from my arm. I would get to go swimming in the lake again. It will be mid-November by that time. Once the chemo is over I'll get about a months worth of radiation. At least I think that's the plan. I'll know more when I meet with my oncologist, Hans Gruber, today. When Hans isn't curing people of their various cancers he's tangling with John McClain but that's not scheduled until Christmas Eve so I've got plenty of time to get better.
I noticed the other day that I have almost no hair left on my lower legs. I spotted this while tearing into the several dozen mosquito bites that cover my calves. I've still got plenty of hair on my arms and chest. The hair on my head is thinning out but there is still a whole bunch of it there. It occurred to me that if this trend continues and the hair loss slowly travels from my lower body to my upper body I'm not going to be too thrilled about where it lands next. Sure, I've always kept it relatively well manicured down there but...
Anyway, in two hours I will be getting my blood drawn, meeting with Hans and then sitting through about a three hour infusion process. They will give me some steroids beforehand (in an effort to reduce the side effects) that will make my face feel flushed and keep me up most of tonight. After the first restless night the chemo side effects kick in for about a five day period. During that time I will have a lingering smell and taste in my nose and mouth that reminds me of rusty wet metal. I'll have the general feeling like I'm coming down with the flu. My mouth will occasionally water like crazy and I'll be ravenously hungry. I'll eat something, immediately regret eating and fight the urge to vomit. I'll sleep about ten hours a day on average. Oh, yeah, and finally I will have gas so awful that I feel bad for the people around me. That last one is not mentioned in any of the side-effects pamphlets I've read so it may be unique to me. And I will try to keep writing because it is one of the few things that makes me feel better and normal during those five days.
I noticed the other day that I have almost no hair left on my lower legs. I spotted this while tearing into the several dozen mosquito bites that cover my calves. I've still got plenty of hair on my arms and chest. The hair on my head is thinning out but there is still a whole bunch of it there. It occurred to me that if this trend continues and the hair loss slowly travels from my lower body to my upper body I'm not going to be too thrilled about where it lands next. Sure, I've always kept it relatively well manicured down there but...
Anyway, in two hours I will be getting my blood drawn, meeting with Hans and then sitting through about a three hour infusion process. They will give me some steroids beforehand (in an effort to reduce the side effects) that will make my face feel flushed and keep me up most of tonight. After the first restless night the chemo side effects kick in for about a five day period. During that time I will have a lingering smell and taste in my nose and mouth that reminds me of rusty wet metal. I'll have the general feeling like I'm coming down with the flu. My mouth will occasionally water like crazy and I'll be ravenously hungry. I'll eat something, immediately regret eating and fight the urge to vomit. I'll sleep about ten hours a day on average. Oh, yeah, and finally I will have gas so awful that I feel bad for the people around me. That last one is not mentioned in any of the side-effects pamphlets I've read so it may be unique to me. And I will try to keep writing because it is one of the few things that makes me feel better and normal during those five days.
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