Day 69 - 12/17/18
Chemo Treatment # 3
Today brings me to the halfway mark of chemo treatments--# 3 out of 6!!!…
I didn’t sleep at all last night. Come to think of it… I didn’t sleep the night before the 2nd treatment either… I can’t quite remember the 1st treatment, but I’m now curious about this pattern. Curious enough to research the side-effects of the steroids that I take the night before chemo. Dexamethasone. Sure enough—insomnia is listed as one of the side-effects. That explains it!
As usual, labs 1st and then I meet with the Physician’s Assistant (PA). Knowing that if my blood counts are off, it could delay the chemo treatments, so I’m usually anxious about my lab work. I am relieved to hear that they are good. She informs us that after the 4th treatment, I’ll have an MRI completed. This is to check on how the cancer on my sternum is reacting to the chemo.
I expressed concern about the amount of fatigue that I experienced after the last round of chemo. It seemed to me like it was more than the previous session. She confirmed that it is not abnormal for fatigue to increase with each session. She stated that this will probably continue to increase with each session. Good to know that it’s not just in my head. She also stated that it will get better once all of the treatments are completed.
After meeting with her, it’s time to head to the infusion room. The infusion time was the same as last time—4 hours, not including labs and office visit. Once I'm done with the infusions, we stop, on our way home, to have a late lunch. Since I’m still feeling “normal,” I can enjoy sitting down in a restaurant.
When we make it home, I’m feeling a little queasy, so I take some nausea medication and lay down for a nap. The lack of sleep last night is catching up with me really quick! Especially since I have food in my belly now! :)
I wake up in the late evening to take more nausea medication, eat dinner, make a few preparations for the upcoming days, and then head back to bed. As I doze off to sleep, I’m celebrating within my thoughts that this is the halfway mark! Three down! Three more to go!
“When I asked for your help, you answered my prayer and gave me courage.” Psalm 138: 3 CEV
Day 70: