Update 11/22/08

Okay I'm going to try this again. I wrote a nice long message yesterday (11/21) and when I hit "publish", the computer said I had lost my internet connection so the whole thing was gone--except for the title "update 11/21/08". I was tired so I gave up and decided to wait until today to try again.

Well, my first round of chemo is officially in the books. One round down, and as of now, five more rounds to go. I'm now over 24 hours from the dosage, and so far, so good. The nurse told me to expect side effects (nausea, vomiting, fatigue, etc.) to start between 24-48 hours after chemo. So far, I've had a tiny bit of nausea but no vomiting--and fatigue has been here all along--so I haven't noticed that being any worse yet:). They sent me home from chemo with 2 different anti-nausea meds and a phone number to call if neither one of them worked, and told me to take the meds at the FIRST sign of nausea and not to wait until the hurling starts. So I feel pretty well armed with good advice and meds, and I'll just have to wait and see what happens next. One thing I've learned through all of this that I can't plan what's going to happen--I'm just taking it one day--sometimes one hour--at a time.

Chemo itself was not a bad experience at all. My appt. was at 9:00am and we were there until about 2:30pm. They have a room with recliners and blankets and pillows in it, and you go in, sit down, get comfortable, and they put the IV in. Some of the recliners have little TVs attached to them, and since I was the first patient of the day, of course I grabbed the good chair with the TV. The first hour I was there they injected me with anti-nausea medicine, a mild steroid for inflammation control, and Benadryl in case of any allergic reaction. Then they started the chemo meds about 10:30. I now appreciate the port that was creeping me out, because it sure was nice to let the IV go right in there, instead of being poked for a vein all morning long.

The Benedryl made me really sleepy, so I slept thru about the first 2 1/2 hours of the whole thing. I had taken some things to read and some paper work to do, but was pretty groggy the whole time from the Benedryl, so I got nothing accomplished but sleeping and watching some TV. Oh well.

Chuck and Will went with me. They hung out with me for awhile, and then Chuck took Will down the hall to his orthopedic dr. appt. to check on his shoulder/clavicle situation. (I was asleep when they left and when they came back, so I didn't even know they were gone). Anyway, the ortho dr. said Will's injuries will heal on their own, but he will monitor the progress by looking at the x-rays that Will will continue to get for his lung puncture (he gets those x-rays done once or twice a week). The ortho dr. said he'll release Will for sports at the same time the lung dr. releases him. So it's another week or two of "hurry up and wait" for Will.

Today has been a pretty good day, and I am thanking the Lord. I am getting such a kick from reading your comments, friends. Thank you for doing that. JoAnne, so good to hear from you and your family! You can call me anytime--no need to feel like you have to wait for the "time to be right". As I've been telling people, if I don't feel like answering the phone, I just don't :). Also, thanks Johnnie, for your comment. I'd love to see you and Margaret any time! I'll be in touch soon.

I'm going to call it a day now. Getting tired, and have a little headache. Thank you all for your continued prayers and help in sooo many ways. Our God is so good!

Much love, Stacey