Glass More than Half Full

So we're 3/4 of the way there now. Yay!

I apologize for not posting in such a long time. The good news is that things have been pretty boring in cancer recovery land. The only ill side effect I suffered after the first Taxol (two weeks ago) was some muscle/bone achiness (it felt like I'd been working really hard in the garden the day before), which was easily remedied with some tylenol and advil.

In the meantime, we've been enjoying some holiday festivities with my folks, and getting some holiday shopping done, and writing Christmas cards, and working. Maggie had a nasty bug over the weekend (102.6 fever) and now is mostly better, but will have some trouble getting rid of the lingering effects, I think (coughs and sneezes). Basically, life goes on.

Mom accompanied me to my second Taxol infusion yesterday, and while things mostly went well, there were a couple bumps in the road. I was in the chemo room by 1:15, and the oncology nurse had my pre-meds all ready. She was having some trouble with the machine though, and so, while each of these three meds should have taken about 15 minutes, she had difficulty with the IV machine and there was a delay in getting each one going. It wasn't until my mom said, "maybe you should try another machine" that she seemed to consider this a viable option (there were at least two unused IVs in the room). Even taking these delays into account, I was ready for the Taxol no later than 2:30, and probably before. But my Taxol didn't get started until 3:10 p.m.

And then, about 15 or 20 minutes into the Taxol, I decided to throw some drama into the proceedings. The Benadryl (one of the three pre-meds) had pretty much knocked me out and so I was lying prone on the recliner. I was not necessarily sleeping, but I was dozing in an out and I was awakened by a tightening in my chest (felt like a classic asthma attack to me) and I could feel my cheeks flushing. I promptly knocked over my water bottle, reaching for my inhaler (poor Mom, trying to understand my mumbling and figure out what I wanted--sorry Mom!) while also trying to sit up and calling to the nurse, "I'm having a reaction to the Taxol..."

As soon as I was sitting up and had used my inhaler I was better. But the typical--and sensible--response to such a reaction is to stop the infusion. So, I got some O2 and felt better and the nurse took notes. A nurse and nurse's asst. ran breathlessly into the room, saying they'd been paged for a Taxol reaction and everyone told them all was okay. Good news--you don't have a crisis. Bad news--you ran down here for nothing. :-)

Since I was so clearly stabilized, they started the Taxol back up after about 15 minutes. Dr. Kuan dropped in to check on me, and to clarify what preceded my reaction, and we all think it would be better if I sat up during these infusions. Ah well. Only two to go.... :-)

Because I got started so late, I (and another patient) needed to be moved upstairs from the downstairs treatment room (where we were put because the main room upstairs was full when we started) around 5 p.m. Mom and I finally got to leave around 6:45 last night. I'm going to try to change my final two chemo appts to start earlier.

We got home, and Frank had made a nice roast chicken dinner for the five of us (Mom, Dad, Frank, me, and Maggie). And then my folks left for their RV up in Fairfield.

Oh! and this time, almost certainly because I did not do the steroids before going in, I got a full night's sleep last night. I feel great this morning and look forward to getting lots done. I'm sort of assuming I'll feel some aches and pains tomorrow, but again, I know it's easily remedied. It's not nearly as awful as the nausea, which required meds that knocked me out, and which has their own dopey residual effects. I prefer clarity, but that could just be me. :-)

In other news, Em has three finals this week, last one Friday at noon. So, we're hoping to see her bright shiny face by 8 or 9 on Friday night, when we'll be enjoying the company of John, Lynn, Kevin, and Sarah Price.

We're planning to get our Christmas tree on Saturday morning, and then Frank and I are going to my (always very fun) office holiday party at the Palace. We're spending the night there--carving out some romantic alone time in the middle of chemo and the holidays. All in all, it should be a lovely weekend. Hope your holidays are lovely and warm and (relatively) stress-free!