Journey to Wellness Mid-Point

I've completed half of my chemo protocol!!! Whoopee!! 4 down, 4 to go.

Treatments #5-8 are with a different drug -- Taxol. Yesterday my oncologist indicated that Taxol is usually easier to handle than the first 2 drugs I took. I shouldn't feel as nauseous but there are 2 possible side effects -- muscle/joint pain and neuropathy (numbness in hands and feet). Not everyone is affected with these side effects. If neuropathy occurs, it usually is not until the 4th treatment. The numbness could eventually go away, but it could take years! That's not very good news, but I'm keeping a positive outlook and hoping for the best.

Medical Care
If you read my list posting, you might have seen the comment posted by Laura, one of my chemo nurses. She and all of the staff in my oncologist's office are great. They're incredibly supporting and caring and make my journey much easier and more pleasant. When my friend, Tulin, came with me to chemo, she was impressed by the caring and friendly attitude of the staff and said "you're lucky to be getting such loving care." I couldn't agree more!!

In nurse Laura's comment she says that I'm "kicking cancer's butt" which made me laugh. But it also made me realize that I'm viewing my situation as enduring chemo vs. fighting cancer. Maybe I'm in total denial, but in my mind my cancer is gone. My lumpectomy was successful -- got all of the tumor, the area around the tumor was clear as were my lymph nodes. Chemo is an insurance policy that's killing any microscopic cancer cells looming in my body.

Rewarding Myself -- True Confessions
During my journey, I started rewarding myself in odd ways.

McDonald's French Fries -- I've never been a big fast food addict but enjoyed McDonald's fish sandwich and French Frieds occasionally. I really love their fries. They're the closest thing to a perfect food. I hadn't been to any fast food restaurants since I started Weight Watchers over 2 years ago. But after my lumpectomy, I splurged and bought a order of large fries at the drive through window. I couldn't wait to eat them at home, so I parked in the lot and sat there and ate them -- with ketchup of course. They were great!! After 2 years of no McDonald's fries -- they didn't disappoint.

Clean sheets 2 times/week -- When I began chemo, I started having a hard time sleeping at night. Prior to chemo, I would sleep through the night without ever getting up. But now I wake up 2-3 times a night and often can't get back to sleep for 3-4 hours. Since I'm not working, I can sleep in so I eventually get 7-8 hours of sleep -- just not in a solid block. I love sleeping in clean sheets and if it wasn't an environmental "no, no", I would wash my sheets every day. I usually do my wash once a week, but since chemo I reward myself by washing sheets twice a week. I feel bad about it, but rationalize it as a temporary situation and will go back to weekly washings after my chemo is done.

Banana split -- My potassium levels were low yesterday, so my oncologist told me to eat more bananas. That's easy. But rather than just eat a banana, I bought a Baskin Robbin's Banana Royale which is 2 scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, walnuts, cherry ... and a banana. Why not? I deserved it as my check-up went well. ;-)

That's it for this week. Take care everyone. I love hearing from you.
Jean