Fuzz Falls Out, Too

More hair has fallen out lately. You see, I never really lost all my hair. J shaved it and there was fuzz and the fuzz fell out in spots. At the end of each round since shaving it, the spots have grown larger and larger. Now there’s almost no fuzz at all. But I still have my eyebrows and eyelashes. Go figure.

Fuzz Falls Out, Too

More hair has fallen out lately. You see, I never really lost all my hair. J shaved it and there was fuzz and the fuzz fell out in spots. At the end of each round since shaving it, the spots have grown larger and larger. Now there’s almost no fuzz at all. But I still have my eyebrows and eyelashes. Go figure.

Just Tired

I pretty much have a constant headache. Sometimes it’s a migraine but more often it’s just a dull thuddy ache. I’m quite certain the headaches are connected to the chemo; I have had more migraines in the past eleven days than I had in the eleven months between the boys’ birth and my first round of chemo. I look forward to the end of chemo, if only because the flippin’ headaches might ease up.

We got notice today that we’ve used up all the money in our flexible medical spending account through Tom’s company. Last year, we had so much money left in the account at the end of the year that I got two pairs of glasses (and y’all know glasses aren’t cheap) and we still didn’t use up the money. We put aside the same amount of money for this year, figuring that if we had anything left over again, Tom would get that glasses-eliminating laser eye surgery. So much for that! It didn’t help that the insurance company recently decided that I owe a copay every single time I set foot in the oncologist’s office–even if I’m not seeing a doctor and am just getting a shot–and then several of my Very Necessary anti-chemo side effects prescriptions have $35 copays…well, you can see how quickly we spend money on this stupid cancer around here.

Sleep and Mouth Sores (or lack thereof)

Still haven’t had a mouth sore, but the migraines are coming fast and furious.

Forgot to mention that yesterday he oncologist wouldn’t give me a prescription for a stronger sleeping pill (I told him the Ambien wasn’t working anymore). He wants me to try melatonin. I bought some, but I’m still gonna grumble and kick the ground and pout. i don’t care about trouble weaning from the meds later; I want to sleep NOW! (that said, I should note that I have no trouble napping, and in fact get a good two-hour nap in every afternoon, but when it’s bedtime, I just lie there thinking about all the things I Really Need To Do until I get up and go do them instead of sleeping).

Did they even hear me?

Today’s oncologist appointment went well…my WBC count has rebounded and we are All-Systems-Go for Round #4 of chemo one week from today.

Remember the insurance nonsense regarding the pre-chemo echocardiogram? The other day, I’d called the cardiologist’s office to request that they recode the claim and resubmit it to insurance…today they called back to say that they have discussed it with insurance and think the best thing to do is recode the claim and resubmit it to insurance. Wait, isn’t that what I told them they needed to do weeks ago? Oh well, as long as it gets done, the rest of it shouldn’t matter, right?

Feelin’ Not Bad!

Today was one of those days where I was almost able to forget about the whole Cancer Patient thing*. I ran errands successfully, caught up on some laundry, and still haven’t seen evidence of week 2 mouth sores (or migraines). Not a bad day considering it’s currently 92 degrees with nearly 60% humidity outside. At 7 o’clock at night. UGH! Mississippi in July.

* you know, other than the having-no-hair and needing-to-take-an-afternoon-nap thing.

On Sleep (or my lack of it)

My sleeping patterns have gotten really messed up for a few weeks and I keep meaning to talk to the oncologist about it, but (everyone say it with me) I keep forgetting. I think that Ambien (sleeping pill) doesn’t work for me anymore; it just doesn’t put me to sleep anymore. But I don’t like taking other medications–that are intended for another purpose (like pain relief or anti-nausea) but that also cause drowsiness–so instead I have been trying to sleep naturally, and that just doesn’t work either.

Last night was terrible, sleep-wise. I didn’t take an Ambien–or anything other than my usually scheduled bedtime meds–and somehow managed to fall asleep. But I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and COULD. NOT. GET. BACK. TO. SLEEP. I ended up coming out to the playroom and loaded music onto my iPod until the boys woke up at 7 a.m. I managed to get a good nap in around mid-day, but am just dreading tonight. I’ve been waking up earlier and earlier since the chemo “wore off,” and while that means I get a lot done with the rest of the household fast asleep, it also means I get worn out much faster.

Tom doesn’t want me taking sleeping pills to get to sleep as he’s concerned about my becoming dependent on the pills to sleep, but I just think that during Chemo is a Different Story. If ever there was a time in my life that I needed as much sleep as possible, it’s now. I think I should ask the oncologist if maybe he can “upgrade” my sleeping pill Rx.

Also, not to do with sleep, but I did something really stupid yesterday: I cut my thumb on the pop-top of a can of soda. Arghh!! The LAST thing I need when my WBC count is so low is to cut myself.

Feeling Better-ish

Tom and the nanny took the boys to the pediatrician today for their 12-month check-up (and shots — ouch!). I can’t go because the waiting room at the pediatrician is so crazy germy, so I didn’t get to meet the new pediatrician. But everyone said they liked her (she went to college and medical school with Tom’s sister, so that is a neat connection there) and she pronounced the boys “beautiful,” so yes we like her.

The boys are both exactly 21 lbs. 10 oz., and nearly 30″ tall. We can take them off formula and they’ll start drinking whole milk tomorrow morning!! Hurray!!

I felt much better last night and this morning, so I did end up going for the third shot of the WBC booster around mid-day. And then I finally figured out that my achy back is probably just the predicted side effect of the shot of achy bones. I was not expecting my back to ache; the first time I had achy bones, it was my legs that hurt. Still, it is good to know the achiness is not something more ominous.

Only made it so far.

Well, I made it 50 days into chemo without feeling more than queasy, but today it got the better of me. The day started off so well, with me running a few errands (just returning library books and dropping off recycling) and going to get my second White Blood Cell count booster shot…and then I got home, the nanny made me a delicious-looking and -sounding tomato and mozzarella sandwich, I took one bite, and spent the next 15 minutes throwng up.

It wasn’t the sandwich, I swear! I talked to the nurse practictioner at the oncologist’s office, who said that vomiting was not a side effect of today’s shot, and that the chemo should be well gone out of my system by now, so that wasn’t it, either. He said “it must be food poisoning.” I said, “but the one bite of the sandwich was all I’d eaten today,” and he said, “huh, well let’s see if it happens again.”

So far, it hasn’t but oooo am I wobbly and feeling bad again. The nurse practitioner said if the vomiting continues, we probably won’t bother with the third shot tomorrow. All things considered, I think I’d rather have the shot than have another bout of vomiting.

Only made it so far.

Well, I made it 50 days into chemo without feeling more than queasy, but today it got the better of me. The day started off so well, with me running a few errands (just returning library books and dropping off recycling) and going to get my second White Blood Cell count booster shot…and then I got home, the nanny made me a delicious-looking and -sounding tomato and mozzarella sandwich, I took one bite, and spent the next 15 minutes throwng up.

It wasn’t the sandwich, I swear! I talked to the nurse practictioner at the oncologist’s office, who said that vomiting was not a side effect of today’s shot, and that the chemo should be well gone out of my system by now, so that wasn’t it, either. He said “it must be food poisoning.” I said, “but the one bite of the sandwich was all I’d eaten today,” and he said, “huh, well let’s see if it happens again.”

So far, it hasn’t but oooo am I wobbly and feeling bad again. The nurse practitioner said if the vomiting continues, we probably won’t bother with the third shot tomorrow. All things considered, I think I’d rather have the shot than have another bout of vomiting.