April 3, 2012 End of Round #3 of 8 – And the winner is….

April 3, 2012 End of Round #3 of 8 – And the winner is….

Carmela, Cancer Babe is the undisputed winner of round #3. 

This round was mostly uneventful (remember uneventful is such a good word).  Generally the first 3-4 days after treatment are OK other than some basic nausea management.  Days 4 – 10 seem to be the wonky days where I can usually function in that I can get out and about for walks and grocery shopping or taking the kids to various places, cooking and some basic housework, reading, listening to music some visiting and, of course, my crocheting addiction.  However, there are times that I just need to sit or sleep and relax.  It is hard to describe the various feeling I go through between low grade nausea, some fatigue, brain fog and some general out-of-body sensations.  After day 10 I know that I was not feeling too great, because “the fog” seems to lift and I am generally myself again where I just want to be normal permanently – not waiting for the next round to hit me again.  I have to say that some anger and impatience crept in this round when I felt good because I really do not feel like I have cancer other than the obvious surgical scars and the treatments I am going through.  But, as I write this, I realize that perhaps these feelings of anger are a positive thing in that I am fighting through this all the way and can’t wait to be part the real world 100% of the time, not just 60% - 70% of time.  Even saying this, I believe I am more fortunate than many that just can’t function very well through treatment or are going through a more severe journey than I – always a silver lining!

I do have to admit to one glitch, after feeling really great from day 10, I did end up getting a normal strep throat infection three days before my 4^th chemo treatment.  Since I developed a fever the first day that fell within the cancer fever protocols, I was advised to go to emergency at ERH to get checked over.  After the routine tests were completed and analyzed, it was confirmed that I had strep throat and that I would be on oral antibiotics for 10 days.  As my white blood cell count was at a good level and that I was improving day to day (ie the fever went away on its own after the second day without meds), my oncologist supported proceeding with my 4^th chemo treatment – a delay was not worth it with what was found.  I will be doing what I can over the next few days and resting more to ensure nothing “eventful” happens!!  But, like I say, I am not counting this minor setback as it seems to be fully managed at the moment!

Onto Round #4…

Chemo demons you can kiss my arse…again!!!