Bruised, battered . . . but still battling

I began the decent in the basement of doom and gloom yesterday, but as of right now I'm only halfway down the steps. I got extremely tired and lethargic after lunch. It's terribly depressing when it gets to be too much energy to smile. I try, but it's hard.

One of the three needle pricks from Friday left a good bruise on my forearm. But that too will fade in a week or so and my arms can rest. One of the chemo nurses and I discussed on Friday, how getting blood drawn is completely different. For blood, the nurse goes straight in and out with a nice, thin needle. For chemo, the thicker needle must thread the vein to get all those toxic chemicals in properly. It hurts going in and can leave a nasty bruise.

Last night, for the very first time during this chemo journey, I had to take the stronger anti-nausea medication I was prescribed after my first treatment. My stomach wasn't happy with me at bedtime, so I prepped the puke bucket and quaffed one of the orange pills. Luckily, it seemed to do the trick. I wanted to be able to say I didn't need stronger anti-nausea medication, but then realized I was being dumb and trying to be some sort of strange hero. So I took the pill.

My hair has already turned fuzzy and white. Michael will help trim it down with the clippers later today. The Yoda look does nothing for me. But at least I know that it'll start to grow . . . soon. Much to my chagrin, the stinky farts made a reappearance last night and a slight metallic taste has invaded my mouth. I've also started with the more frequent hot flashes (tropical moments). It's when they're accompanied by nausea and slight dizziness a bit later in the cycle that they really get annoying.

When my energy level isn't too bad over the next two days, we've got to divide the school supplies, write names on the items, pack the backbacks and write a note to Noah's new teacher. Luckily, we've gathered everything up (I hope), including lunch supplies, so we'll be ready to go Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, that's typically a very bad day for me post-chemo, but I'll dredge the strength up from somewhere so I can participate in my the first day of grade 7 and grade 3 for my kids.

We're in the process of trying to get Tara turned around from her summer sleeping schedule so she isn't going to bed at 10 to 10:30 at night and rising at 8 or 9 a.m. The school wouldn't like it much if she strolled in late to class every morning. As a result of her early waking yesterday, she was so cranky last night at bedtime because she's overtired. She was upset over something really dumb - brushing her teeth - and I didn't have the patience for it. Poor Tara.

But on the bright side, I'm sitting here sipping coffee, probably my last for a couple of days. I'm relatively alert and pleasant for now. I just woke Tara up and she's currently cheery. I'm beating this. Later today, I know I'll decend those last few steps to the dreary basement of chemo hell, but I'll be back in a few days - this time for good.

Wish me luck,
Tina