Post-chemo life hobbles on. It’s pretty sucky, I don’t recommend it…  My narcolepsy has eased, and been replaced by stomach issues.  Not so much straight nausea – they’ve given me pretty good meds for that. But other GI issues have reared their head (hah!). I’ve asked if any of the meds I’m taking might be causing the GI issues and the docs have assured me that it’s all just the nasty evil chemo drugs taking their toll on me.

On Sunday we had Lane’s 10th birthday party. I’d pared it down to the absolute minimum – ordered the cake and bought paper plates on Monday before chemo, and we had it catered. Mostly all I had to do on Sunday morning was pour chips into bowls. Lane’s classmates and friends arrived, along with their incredibly fabulous parents who took care of everything else while I relaxed. Easiest party ever. I even managed to stay awake the whole time! Thank you fifth grade moms, you know who you are!!!  Oh, and of course, Tad did a lot of work too.

Yesterday I went back to work, but decided to work from home for the week. This allows me to sneak in a quick nap if I need one, rush to the bathroom without embarrassment, and avoid being around too many other people while I’m potentially neutropenic.  Apparently I’m most likely not neutropenic – they gave me a drug (Neulasta) to prevent that so it’s unlikely – but caution is still recommended during week 2.

I had a follow-up oncology visit today with a doc whose name I did not catch (he was filling in for Dr. Cancer). I liked him. He asked me how it’s going and I was not sure how to answer, not really having a basis of comparison. It fucking sucks; but … I knew it was going to fucking suck … ? And it doesn’t suck quite as bad as maybe it could have?  I mean, no vomit is a good thing, right?  Long story short I’m doing fine, everything is normal, keep doing what I’m doing. Alrighty then.

One interesting thing I learned: The Neulasta helps with the white blood cells only, which is the concern with preventing neutropenia and potential infection. It does not help with hemoglobin (red blood cells). My hemoglobin count prior to chemo was fine and dandy, so apparently even a slight drop in red blood cells (anemia) would probably be noticeable to me in terms of feeling tired. So that explains a lot. There are no drugs to counteract it, I just have to roll with it.