4 rounds down, 2 to go...

I am becoming quite cavalier about this chemotherapy-business...on Thursday I basically just got in the car and found myself at chemo without my wonderful freeze spray, without my blanket, without just about everything. Since the arrival of darling Missy on the scene, I don't need to think about packing something to do, either! This last chemo was a very loud session of laughing, and when we were done with our infusions, we weren't even done talking yet.

I did spread out my talking a bit, though - we met a new young woman who had just had her first of 6 rounds of TAC (same regimen as me) the week before, and I was also sitting next to a young man on my left. The young guy and I had a nice conversation in which he tried to persuade me to try smoking marijuana to control nausea...I mentioned that I had 3 small children so I would stay away from it, but thanked him for his advice. He also mentioned that "It looks like you aren't having any trouble keeping the weight on" despite the chemotherapy! I didn't take offense as I know a) chemo can mess with your brain 2) cancer can mess with your brain and of course 3) marijuana can mess with your brain! I am amused at his frankness, though. And no, I am not having any trouble keeping the weight on; I never do!

Anyway, this round went better than all the others, I would say. I must be getting used to it, which is crazy. I didn't take any anti-nausea meds, aside from the ones they give me during my infusion, but that is just because I am crazy. I guess I just did not want to put any other drugs in my body, and I also guess I do not experience nausea like the average person, as I wasn't any worse than I was last round, or even the first round when I was taking all the meds. (I wonder how often the anti-nausea meds make people feel worse than they would feel if they took no anti-nausea meds?) What I did do was drink lots of water, slept a lot, and walked a lot... I'm exceedingly lucky to have my sister Amy around to help provide care for my children, and Bill, and Sybil who took the kids for Thursday and Friday morning.

Also, I really, really tried to be more positive this time...to control my thoughts and to keep them away from how I was feeling. That is hard to do, when you are being poisoned and it feels all disgusting like poisoning would feel... But, a fellow 3-day walker/cancer survivor sent out a great quote in an email recently, and I totally took it to heart, especially during this hard time : "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain."