On tap for July

I have finished chemo treatments! Now I’m waiting for side effects to subside, including tiredness and mild neuropathy (numb feet, sometimes painful). As a method of keeping one alive, I suppose chemo must work or they wouldn’t do it, but only the desperate should attempt it.

Yet to come this month, radiation will start with a “simulation” in which the machines are set up and my person is tattooed with marks for lining things up. Then I will start the course of 30 treatments. That means 5 times a week for 6 weeks. We expect that to begin around July 22 if all goes as planned. Fatigue and skin problems at the site are the big nasties with radiation.

In the meantime, hysterectomy is scheduled for July 17. Recovery is not too bad, no lifting (even laundry) for 6 weeks with no gym for 8 weeks given the type of gym I will resume ASAP. I am grateful to have it overlap the radiation, to compress the inactivity. I do have some physical therapy on offer, and that particular therapist will serve me very well restoring me to the life I’ve lost touch with since March.

This week I shaved what remained of the hair. It was still coming out and very patchy. Clean slate, no purple dye etc. We’ll see what comes back.

Monday begins Cycle 3 of 4

“The status is not quo.” I would very much like for this status to never become “quo.” Cycle two had too much drama. I’m still bruised from the port re-install and this new one is bothersome and makes driving very uncomfortable. Being a passenger is no problem.

I am theoretically halfway through the four treatments, but not through all the side effects.  I now get quite tired very easily, the kind of tired that settles in around and behind the eyes and about the shoulders like a shawl (one I knitted, of course). I have some very lightweight hoodies that fit loosely on the head and are helpful for the change in temperatures while also giving me some measure of retreat. Kind of like swaddling.

Speaking of my noggin, I still have some hair. Go figure. It is not enough hair to keep me warm.  In fact, I get quite cold (see above). I also made some bandannas out of batiks and other fabrics I love, some from my stash. They’re a nice change from my previously made beanie style hat, though I also still like those!

Looking ahead, we’ve added more surgery to the plan. It was decided last week that a hysterectomy is necessary. I had thought that a D&C before cycle 1 had resolved the issue with a “nope, no cancer here” finding, yet here we are. Scheduling the procedure was awful with too many doctors having their say in the matter.  I had hoped to get it done between chemo 3 and 4, but no such luck. They’d rather prolong my incapacity to the max. Recovery will be about 6 weeks and I don’t yet know how this will impact radiation. My hope is that it won’t be delayed more than a couple weeks. Henceforth, I shall think of July 17 as “Menopause Day.”

Meanwhile, I shall endeavor to remain in the present. Planning this stuff forces one to do too many days’ worth of trouble in advance.