Day #5 Of Chemo

Here’s a little glimpse into my day in Ann Arbor. What this doesn’t show are the countless people that stop by on a daily basis. It is absolutely mind-boggling to me the number of people who are watching over me! The doctors stop by multiple times a day, other services, phlebotomists, it’s quite remarkable. I still have yet to have a moment where I wonder, “What shall I do?” though I’m sure after week 3 I’ll be saying that! And maybe not…they sure keep ya busy!

I try to walk these hallways as often as I can, but today proved to be a little more difficult. I woke up short of breath and so tired (even though I slept GREAT), and after getting labs drawn, my fluid levels were up and my hemoglobin was 6.9, which meant a blood transfusion was coming. I’m thankful there is that option (I mean who invented that?) because after those kicked in, I could tell I had more energy. Now to just get rid of the fluid! It’s so tricky because chemo is basically all fluid-based, so I have to have that, but I retain it, so I have to help my body pass it with lasix, which can throw other parts of my body off too. But hopefully once I’m done with chemo, which SHOULD be tomorrow, things will even out a bit.

Then I envision things starting to go south a bit. I just keep praying that my side effects will be minimal and that I will have the energy to keep walking these hallways. I was lapped several times by a guy who what seemed like, was running a marathon, but every step was worth it. I’ll get there…I just probably walk like an 80 year old (joints are stiff from one of the chemos), and I walk slow, like I’m 90, so I’m averaging about 85 years old right about now.

Getting the good ole blood transfusion! Thank you to whoever gave this blood because it sure made this girl’s world a WHOLE lot easier and healthier today!

After school, Mazy and I FaceTimed, which is just such a light in my day! She shows me all her schoolwork, what she’s been working on, and it just seems like she’s doing so well. Other times when I’ve been in the hospital, FaceTiming almost made it worse because it reminded her that I wasn’t there. But now I feel like she doesn’t have a care in the world. Truly, such a miracle from God. Here she is reading a story she wrote about us getting Maggie, our dog. So sweet!

Tomorrow is my LAST day of chemo, which means one more round of chemo tomorrow, called GO. It’s an acronym but I don’t have a clue how to spell or say it, so we are just going with GO. I will have to come back after I’m discharged every 4 weeks for 5 days inpatient to have more chemotherapy treatments and infusions in between those trips, but to have the first set done, will feel good. Hopefully I won’t have to be tied to the IV pole as much!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we embark on this unknown journey known as cancer! And we see blessing after blessing already through it all, despite the tears that still come. God has been faithful and is answering our prayers. My numbers are going down, which is a good thing, I’m feeling symptoms, which says that the chemo is working, and so we just pray that my body will bounce back quickly from the depletion so that I can get out of this joint in a timely manner!