I'm Sorry for Cursing - Colon / rectal cancer

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good, until I walked around a little bit.  I feel the chemo in my legs.  They are heavy.

Anyway, rewinding to yesterday, chemo went pretty okay.  Who's ready for a recap??

I got to the clinic at 9am.  My appt was apparently at 9:15.  No biggie, except I didn't get called back until 9:30am.  My doc was at the hospital doing good deeds, so no worries.  After I got weighed (down another couple pounds, not broken up about that) and blood pressured (I don't remember, but it was good) and temperatured (97.0, but I had just finished my smoothie so my mouth was probably a little cold), the nurse was going to take me to a room.  Usually she takes me to the port lady for bloodwork and a port and then I see the doc.  I asked about it because I find it's good for me to stay on top of things, but the nurse said no blood work was ordered.  Okay, that was weird.

So I sat around in the exam room (#4 if you were wondering) for a little bit and the oncologist's nurse came in and asked me all the usual questions about if I have any new meds or if I have fallen in the past two weeks.  Then she looked at my chart and expresses surprise about there not being an order for a CBC.  I said I was too.  "Well you have to have a CBC!" she said, and bustled out of the room.  A few minutes later she took me to the port lady.

I love the port lady.  She's friendly and remembers me and doesn't chit chat too much.  And she is wicked good putting in a port.  The nurses in the chemo lab are great too, but they ease the port needle in REAL SLOW.  It's like torture, and some guy even chuckled at me last time like I'm a newb.  I'm so not.  The port lady says, "Okay, look to the side, 1, 2 STICK" and it hurts for a moment, then it's in.  So I like her.

Then I saw my doctor (at like 10:00).  I asked him about something for diarrhea (sorry, that's gross) because it's slowly getting worse and if I take immodium it makes me all shaky and clammy.  He ended up giving me something else to try.  He told me to be careful with it, because he doesn't want me to get constipated.  Oh believe me, oncologist, neither do I.  I will freak out, actually, if that happens.

We chatted about my scan, chatted about my blood numbers over the past couple times, and he gave me a sun lecture again.  I need to find a hat I can wear running, I guess.  I think I have other situations covered.

Then I was on my way to the chemo lounge!

I waited there for a LONG time.  They were busy, and it kind of sucks to not have a set appointment.  There's no way to know how long it will be before I see the oncologist though.  I think people are just doing the best they can.  A little before 11am, a chair opened up.  The nurse wasted no time getting me hooked up and pumped full of pre-meds.  I was supposed to text Eric when I got started so we could kind of estimate when I was going to be done.  The benedryl went in so fast that my text was kind of messed up...suddenly I my phone screen was really blurry.

After my benedryl nap, I went to the bathroom and then heated up my lunch.  I move around a lot more than most people do.  I get bored, so I wander with my chemo tower.

I did talk to a woman probably not a whole lot older than me who was being treated for breast cancer.  It's amazing sometimes how cancer is found.  I won't share her story here, but she's a very lucky woman.  And she only has two more chemo rounds left.  I was happy for her and almost didn't want to tell her my deal but she asked, so I did.  Sometimes I think I should initiate conversations more in the chemo lounge, but it really drains me emotionally.  I'll keep the option open.  It can be lonely in the chemo lounge despite being surrounded by so many people.

I was wiped out yesterday after chemo, which is why I was scarce online.  I find if I do too much, I feel worse, especially the first couple days.  In fact, after this blog entry, I'm probably going to drag myself to my recliner for a while.  The kids are fed, so they'll be good for a little while.  Today we will take it easy.