As Erin described in his blog
post earlier this week, day one was an extremely long day for me. There were
some unexpected hiccups along the way on Monday, which meant chemo wasn’t
administered until nighttime. That resulted in nightly chemo for the rest of
the week and leaving the hospital a day later than I had planned. Fortunately,
the hiccup wasn’t serious and getting the port to function properly was a minor
issue, but a major delay. In some ways sleeping through the chemo was a good thing
because with eyes closed, I could imagine the drugs coursing through my veins
and me pointing them in the right direction, so to speak. However, the downside
is that I was woken up quite a bit for any number of reasons, so I had little
restful sleep the entire week. Cycle 2 will hopefully begin earlier in the day
because on day one I’ll already be set with my port and there won’t be a bone
scan. But you never know…
All in all, I think I fared
pretty well this week. I had the pleasure of experiencing both ends of the
digestive spectrum, loss of appetite, lower blood counts by day three, and
fatigue. Though I’m not sure how
much of the fatigue was due to loss of sleep and how much was from the chemo
itself. It’s certainly nice to be home so that I can sleep through the night
without interruption and overall take it easy without being attached to an IV
pole dripping fluids in my body 24 hours/day. This IV kept me hydrated in
addition to my Nalgene, which I filled with water diligently. I’m not sure the
nurses had ever had a patient who created their own “Pee Tally” before, but I
did. For exercise I was able to walk the “loop,” which is a short lap around
the oncology unit. It was not that
impressive, but it was all I had, as they do not let patients receiving
chemotherapy leave the floor. On the opposite end of the chemo floor is the
birthing unit, which was actually pretty neat. Every time a baby was born they
played a short lullaby over the intercom. It was nice to think about the start
of a new life beginning on the other side of the walls--a stark contrast of
where I stood in the oncology unit.
Today, technically the final
day of this cycle, I will receive a neutrophil shot at the doctor’s office that
will help make more white blood cells and protect against infection. Speaking
of blood counts, I want to take a moment to explain them because they are
really important to my overall health during this process. One of
the chemotherapy brochures I've collected explains bone marrow suppression:
Your body produces three
main types of blood cells. These are made in the bone marrow and travel
throughout your body in your blood stream. These blood cells are: white blood
cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), and platelets.
WBCs fight infection. There are several types
of WBCs, but the first line of defense in fighting is the neutrophil. RBCs
carry oxygen to all body tissues and take away carbon dioxide. Platelets help
blood to clot to prevent bleeding. Most chemo destroys some blood cells and
decreases the production of new cells. Your blood counts will be monitored
closely during treatment by a blood test called a CBC (complete blood count).
In between cycles, my CBC
will be monitored weekly by my local oncologist to be ensure my blood counts
are in the normal range.
Hard to explain how nice it
is to be home again. Dean, Alex, and I read by the fireplace together this morning, one of my favorite rituals. I received a very sweet, yet funny note
from Alex during my hospital stay, which you can view below. As you can tell, he
seems to understand my needs pretty well.
I am proud of how well my
boys are doing despite the circumstances. They are so resilient, so young, so
innocent. I believe Erin and I have done a good job of educating them just
enough to know what’s going on with mom, but not so much that they are worried
about me. I want to publicly thank Erin for being so amazing. He
stands up tall as a dad in a tough situation to support his children and at the
same time he rises to the occasion as a husband to support his wife. And not to mention all of his responsibilities when he
goes to work to support our family financially. It’s not easy by any stretch of the
imagination. This is true love.
Love,
Sareana
