Wednesday Oct. 8 - End of First Cycle

Today is the last day of Cycle One of my chemo, so I am just going to
catch you up on the events since last Wednesday. Basically, I have
felt really well, and there are no steroids involved this time! Last
Wednesday, I felt well enough to do quite a bit of cooking and have a
nice stock of single-serving foods in the freezer - risotto, soup,
casserole, etc. Thursday and Friday, we were able to go out in the
evening, and to a restaurant for supper on Fri. I still have to be
careful what I eat, because the chemo attacks any fast-growing cells
in your body and that includes the linings of mouth, throat and
stomach. As part of that, my voice got 'funny' - sounded like I had
laryngitis - and my taste was off. Perhaps I can use that as an
indicator - when I sound odd, I can expect things to taste differently.
That was only a few days in the middle of last week. By Friday,
I was pretty well back to normal and I have had several very nice days
this week. We decided to make a quick trip to Kitchener-Waterloo on
Sunday and had a visit with Amy, Mike and Lian which was very enjoyable.
(I still have to rest in the afternoons - keeps me going for the rest
of the day.)

The next hurdle will be when my hair leaves. That should be any
time in the next week. Apparently, there comes a day when it starts
coming out in chunks - just having lots of single hairs around on
my pillow now - and I have been advised to have the remainder
'buzzed' once that happens. This will include loss of eyebrows and
eyelashes, too - something that I am struggling with. However, I
have purchased a really nice wig (not the one I brought back from
Windsor) and have a collection of hats and scarves to use. I'm just
not much of a hat person - although this is one of the positives for
David, who has wanted me to wear them for years ! - and trying to
make a scarf look nice is usually one of the things that reduces me
to bad language pretty quickly - but,hey! Practice makes perfect !
The VON sponsored a 'Look Good, Feel Better' workshop here on
Monday and I went to that. I came home with a box of 'loot' and
several good ideas on what to do about the eyebrow/eyelash problem.
It's only for Oct. - Feb., so it's not such a big deal and I have
to keep perspective here. I was speaking recently to a good friend
whose son has 6 months left of a 30-month chemo regimen; what
have I got to feel bad about ?

So, overall, I had 3 'bad days' - Sat. noon - Tues. noon - and the rest
of the time I was able to eat, sleep, cook, read, knit, live life and
carry on as usual. We'll see if that continues as I am exposed to these
chemicals over and over. (3 more doses of this kind and then 4 of the
second). And I'll know to watch out for those steroids from now on !

I'll close with an experience from Monday. I went across town to the
VON workshop that morning and in the afternoon, I went out for
groceries. In the grocery store, I met a friend and we talked about
my situation (as well as some other things!) and I mentioned that
I was staged at 3C - second-last worst - but not 4 !! As I left the
parking lot, I was overcome by the potential of that stage and was
in tears - maybe I am just crazy here to be so confident that God
is in this with me and taking me through this. I got home, parked
(this involves turning and braking several times to back it in) and
went in the house (didn't say anything to David about what I had
been thinking). Half an hour later,he went out to move my car to
use the trailer and when he put his foot on the brake, the brake line
broke and the pedal went right to the floor ...fluid all over the
driveway. Now, you may not look at it this way, but I took that as a
very definite answer to my distress; I am being looked after and
protected in some very practical ways and I will get through this,
by His grace.

I hope your day goes well, wherever you are, and that you are
also aware of God's blessing in your life.