Round Two...

I was going to make an ugly joke about what 5FU might really mean, but I decided against it. It was pretty lame anyway.

Suspecting the bad milk episode was a bigger part of the bad first round, this time I decided to make sure any milk I have is plenty good. This gave me some higher confidence going in for round 2 this week. That and I've got some extra anti-nausea pills just for chemo days as well as a daily Tagamet to curb any extra stomach acid.

I left the oncologist feeling okay though I got my first taste of the neuropathy sensations. Mom had a broken wiper blade I jury rigged but when I got back in the truck, my fingers felt like freezer burn. At home, iced tea gave me a little sting the first few sips and then felt like someone poked me in my voicebox. Ow. Later in the afternoon, Jody and I paid a visit to Target but the 5FU got to me and I ran out of steam. By the time we got home, I crashed and missed dinner.

When I woke up, I realized my mistake. I was shaky and Jody made me a pbj before bed. Within minutes I was much better. So, that led to a concentrated effort to eat a little something much more often today. As long as I have something on my stomach, I feel pretty good. Lesson learned.

In a hair less than fifteen hours, round two will be done. I will get a new schedule tomorrow that will include a second try at an iron infusion. This one is supposed to be much easier to swallow though it may be repeat visits. Dr. Lee is going to check Monday's bloodwork and figure up a dosing. I'll see Dr. Grasso on the 19th and hopefully get an idea of when the ileostomy reversal will go down. Until then, I'll be doing the chemo rounds every other week.

Knock on wood, this second round is going okay with the extra precautions and keeping the tummy working. As long as this goes into the weekend, I'm going to call my bosses on Monday and get my butt back to work. I'll admit it's a high hope but I am trying to be realistic in gaging how I feel rather than trying to get back just for getting back's sake.