Chemo - Day 2

No biopsy results yet. I saw Dr. Ganguly today at the clinic and he was very upbeat. He said it will take 7 to 10 days for the counts to bottom out, then 4 to 5 weeks for them to come back up. When they come back up we will do another PET scan to make sure there is no more chloroma. I like the sound of that.

He described the chloromas he as seen as small, describing a very small circle with his finger and thumb. That's me, always different. My dad told me from a young age to "be an individual." I guess it's in my blood (pun intended.)

My kidneys showed high uric acid so I got another drug for that. That is one of the things they will be watching closely. This morning they drew blood in different color tubes for the special tests of my liver and kidneys. I'm pretty familiar with what each colored top on the vials for blood means so now I have added a new blue to my knowledge base.

Conor is here and took me to the clinic today. We watched the British Open, even during the hour or so it was called for high winds. He did a lot of work, I did a lot of trying to get comfortable. For some reason my butt just hurt. No matter how I adjusted the bed. I did the crossword puzzle and it was handy having Conor there for the sports questions I didn't know. (Sometimes I text him with these questions to solve a puzzle.)

Mark arrived this evening. Cousin Gail arrived this morning. Mari and Mom and Gail went to work on the house and it is now thoroughly sanitized and ready for neutropenic living. Which is the plan from now on. No fresh food--it all has to be cooked. No raw nuts or pickles or tofu or anything fermented. Lots of protein.

Then there is the "use only this bathroom" and nobody else can use this bathroom. Sanitize hands all the time and wash them in between.

But I will be at home and I can sew and I have a few projects sitting here waiting for my needle.

I have been able to stave off the nausea with Ativan so far. I can feel the chemo brain fog drifting in. I keep saying I don't have my fight on, but Conor says I do, and Mark says I do. They say you're asking what's the next thing and you're doing it. That's how you do these things. That's fighting. So maybe it's just that I still have moments of tears and fears that are rattling me.

I reckon that's normal. Got tougher odds, got oddball cancer, and got a tired trooper.
~Cathi