Chemo Round Two, Day Three...and not feelin' too bad
The short story is, while round two of chemo was worse during treatment, it has been overall kinder afterwards, at least as of today (day three). During the taxotere portion of treatment I had an allergic (hypersensitivity) reaction. It was not fun, but it confirmed for me that (a) my mom is awesome, which I didn't need confirmed and (b) I am receiving treatment at the right place. Cool head Mom got the nurses, and they and the doc had me stabilized (read: not beet red, racing heart, closing throat) incredibly quickly. After some more steroids and benadryl, we tried again, and I'm happy to say I was able to complete the full regimen, yeah! Also, Mom called this possibility as apparently I was itchy for round one. Good job Mom :-)
Wednesday and Thursday were major steroid days, so I felt pretty great. Plus, I was caffeinating and hydrating, and, ok eating, like a champ. Holy cow, steroids make you want to eat. I've been spared nausea requiring meds this time, and many things just don't sound good, but when I find what does, I want a lot. And what I want is protein in the form of animals (sorry vegetarian friends, le sigh) as well as potatoes and rice (all the carbs). I've been tricking myself into vegetables, and some fruits are ok too. Chocolate is still on the "off" list (Easter candy, I miss you, but I don't).
On to other things. The best part of the last three days has been my students presenting posters at the college's undergraduate research symposium, "Mediated Minds". I had one student tell me how proud she was and how she wanted to get more involved in these types of things. This is a huge win, in part because it was so unexpected. I could also see this students and other students' confidence levels increase as they capably answered questions on their projects (yes, biofilms, if you know me). It was worth it x100 coming in just for that. Mendelian genetics in the afternoon did not go quite as smoothly. Ha. Major kudos to the husband for chauffeuring me to school and back...I slept all the way home and then at home. Then he made pork chops and mashed potatoes- my favorite couple-days-post-chemo food, apparently. And I slept another 12 hours.
We managed to get in a short hike (1.25 miles if you're keeping track) at Shawnee Lookout with the pup this afternoon. I was feeling better (bone pain pretty much gone right now), and even though it was sloow, it was totally worth it. Yes, I came home and slept.
Now, back to work so we can put this semester to bed in two weeks....
Wednesday and Thursday were major steroid days, so I felt pretty great. Plus, I was caffeinating and hydrating, and, ok eating, like a champ. Holy cow, steroids make you want to eat. I've been spared nausea requiring meds this time, and many things just don't sound good, but when I find what does, I want a lot. And what I want is protein in the form of animals (sorry vegetarian friends, le sigh) as well as potatoes and rice (all the carbs). I've been tricking myself into vegetables, and some fruits are ok too. Chocolate is still on the "off" list (Easter candy, I miss you, but I don't).
On to other things. The best part of the last three days has been my students presenting posters at the college's undergraduate research symposium, "Mediated Minds". I had one student tell me how proud she was and how she wanted to get more involved in these types of things. This is a huge win, in part because it was so unexpected. I could also see this students and other students' confidence levels increase as they capably answered questions on their projects (yes, biofilms, if you know me). It was worth it x100 coming in just for that. Mendelian genetics in the afternoon did not go quite as smoothly. Ha. Major kudos to the husband for chauffeuring me to school and back...I slept all the way home and then at home. Then he made pork chops and mashed potatoes- my favorite couple-days-post-chemo food, apparently. And I slept another 12 hours.
We managed to get in a short hike (1.25 miles if you're keeping track) at Shawnee Lookout with the pup this afternoon. I was feeling better (bone pain pretty much gone right now), and even though it was sloow, it was totally worth it. Yes, I came home and slept.
Now, back to work so we can put this semester to bed in two weeks....
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