As I mentioned in my last post, yesterday I had a scheduled visit with the lovely Sara Reynolds, Nurse Practitioner. Good news – I’ve graduated in a sense. My labs have all been stable (numbers dropping where expected, rebounding when they should), so I no longer have to go for weekly port draws or mid-cycle visits with Sara. Woo hoo! Chemo Rock Star status reconfirmed! As for the neuropathy progression, it’s nothing to worry about, especially since I’m not hampered by it or in pain. Speaking of pain, I was in such a good mood when I got home, and totally over the prednisone crash, only to find myself crashing of a different nature. The Girl’s scooter grabbed my sandal and I wiped out on the floor of the garage. I can’t believe none of my neighbors came running to find out the source of the string of very loud expletives spewing forth from my mouth. This was the kind of fall where once the yelling stopped, I had to just lie there and assess the damage. My left knee seems to have borne the brunt of it. And thankfully, my tatas saved my face. I swear, when they hit the floor, I bounced. If it weren’t for my ample bosom, I probably would have smashed my face on the concrete as well as my knee.
Once I got inside, the cold clamminess and nausea set in. But, I managed to stay calm(ish), not pass out, and make it upstairs to thoroughly disinfect (I love how peroxide bubbles on a boo boo) and bandage up my wound with antibiotic cream and a jumbo bandaid. You know if I didn’t, it’d be my dumb luck to end up with an infected knee because I have no immune system to speak of this week. After that, I spent about an hour icing my knee, and talking to my friend, Nurse Janet, who reassured me that as long as my platelets were good (they are), and the swelling and bruising stopped progressing, that I’d be ok. And I am. Ok, but sore and stiff. At least it’s not as painful as it was when I first fell. Seriously, I think that pain was worse than any of the biopsies I had to endure, including bone marrow!
Ok, so more on my discomfort – but back to the main subject (cancer, duh). I thought I’d perhaps mentioned this before, but looking back, it seems I never did. During week 2 of cycle 1, I seemed to have had a pretty miserable IBS flare. I’m talking continuous GI distress for a solid week. It came back during week 2 of cycle 2. At that point, I did some more research and discovered lots of anecdotal evidence that horrendous gas and bloating is actually par for the course with R-CHOP. So, yay – it’s not IBS. Boo, it’s to be expected. So, I was expecting it on Sunday. And Monday, and Tuesday. Aside from a short bout of tummy trouble on Monday night (which was unhelped by Beano or Gas-X), it didn’t happen. It seems that my usually stupid and inept GI system has actually learned to deal with the chemo and not have a hissy fit just because I’m letting them pump toxins into my body. I’m shocked. Other than having to get my period, this may be the worst side effect of my chemo/cancer experience, so not having the GI upset is such a relief!
Until next time, mes chéris!
Original Comments from the CaringBridge Blog:
Now THAT’S what I can call one great big ginormous owie!!!
—margo barbakow, June 3, 2015
Deb, you don’t do anything halfway! You hit that ground hard. Glad you didn’t break anything.
—Michele Barbera, June 3, 2015
Well DANG! That looks mighty painful to me! BAD SCOOTER!! BAD BAD SCOOTER!! So sorry!
—jo Wilken, June 3, 2015