I read this verse Friday morning before going to treatment and thought, “yep, even treatment days.”
This is the day the Lord has made,
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
Friday’s treatment was uneventful, which is EXACTLY how we like it. :) No reactions, no rashes, no abnormal responses of any kind. Just me, the Ativan, and the Rituxan getting along nicely.
I don’t usually sleep during treatment because I’m a curious type and I like to watch what’s going on around me. Besides that, I’m afraid I might start snoring or something obscene like that!
This time, I slept. In fact, I slept so hard the nurse (Sarah) told Barry she had a hard time waking me up to check my vitals while he was gone grabbing lunch! I think her words were “I had a really hard time waking her up. I felt bad because she was sleeping so well.” At which point, I looked at Barry and he gave that “oh, I know exactly what you mean” grin as he was nodding in complete agreement with Sarah because I am NOT easy to wake up. It’s a gift. :)
My labs were pretty good – white slightly low, red slightly slow, hemoglobin on the low side of normal, and platelets were good. Pretty consistent with what they’ve been throughout this entire process.
Then we met with Dr. Daniel. I talked with him about the numbness and tingling I’m having in my feet and hands (which according to everything I’ve read is fairly normal following chemotherapy). The lower half of my left leg is frequently numb and my feet tingle and sting. My fingers turn extremely white and get so cold that they hurt. It’s not a constant thing, but comes and goes.
In addition, when I wake up in the mornings my hands are swollen and stiff (almost like what I would expect an arthritic hand to feel like). After a few hours, they improve, but it’s tough to grip things for a while. It’s a form of peripheral neuropathy that he feels is brought on by the Treanda that I received. He was surprised, though, that I’m having this now – so long after finishing the Treanda in January. He told me if it starts to keep me from sleeping (ha!) to let him know. (Between you and me, I don’t know that’s an adequate gage for my symptoms getting worse because I can sleep through virtually anything!) I told him if it got noticeably worse, I would call.
I had some mild queasiness this weekend along with heavy fatigue, but nothing horrible at all. My next treatment is scheduled for June 22 and I’ll have a CT scan of the abdomen on June 20 so he can see how the kidney is behaving. Which means I get to dreaded drink the contrast. Oh yum!
I have to show you guys this picture. It’s a Blue Q zippered pouch that my Aunt Frances sent me and I love what it says:
How awesome is that?? Boy, if that doesn’t describe how I feel, nothing does. I may be hit, but I can make it. And I will make it. Love you, Frances! Thank you for the pouch.
Thanks so much for your thoughts, prayers, emails, texts, and calls on Friday and this weekend. I really can’t express how much they mean to me. This maintenance stuff is pretty routine and not too bad to deal with, but it’s still chemo and I am so grateful that you would take the time to lift up a prayer for me.
Hope your week gets off to a fantastic start!
♥ Rachel
