Jennifer's Cancer Journey

 This extra week off of chemo is always a relief, but there were plenty of issues that popped up. There were days that the feeling in my feet made it hard to walk. I had to concentrate on picking my feet up so I wouldn't trip. There were days when I was crazy tired and days were I had energy. I almost said I was full of energy, but it should read something like, full of energy for my current circumstance.  All week, I have had a sense of dread. It is like I knew what was coming. I am just really tired of doctors, hospitals, blood draws...all those things. Tuesday morning, I went to the lab for a blood draw. Friday, I was at the infusion center for another blood draw. This one was my pre-chemo bloodwork. I can't say that I am surprised, but my counts were way off again. I ended up getting a shot to boost production. It worked last time, so hopefully, it works again. I really don't want anymore delays. I am ready to be done with all of this. The shot has caused a little bit o...

 My last update was a little bit of a downer. Fear not, I have not stayed in that mindset...for the most part. This last round of chemo was odd. I really didn't have much cold sensitivity. It was there, but manageable. I could actually wash my hands without pain. One effect that has been bothersome has been the neuropathy in my feet. My right leg feels kind of like dead weight from the knee down and the last two days, my left foot has felt the same. I woke up Friday with that feeling in both of my arms too. Thankfully, that didn't last too long. I plan to bring this up at my appointment on Friday.  One of my frustrations through this whole ordeal has been my inability to work out the way I would like. However, I pulled out my handy phone and looked at my actual activity.  So, what you see here is my logged "workouts." That top line looks a little blah, unless you know the context. April 27 was an all day work day at the end of a chemo week. I didn't get a break to...

The highs and lows of this journey are real. There is nausea, fatigue, sadness, and sometimes a little bit of hope. I feel like the days after disconnect when I feel the worst physically are the hardest emotionally.  Currently, I am sprawled out in my bed...not even upright, because that is hard. Friday is the day I change my sheets, but it is also time to wash the comforter. Well, the comforter is in the wash, but that is all. I have already grocery shopped and really have nothing left in the tank to put the new sheets on...at least for now. The energy may appear later.  The nausea is just annoying. It is like my body wants to get it out, but it won't. So, I just left with this yucky feeling that doesn't really let up with meds...at least for a few days. At the same time, my GI insides aren't really sure what they are supposed to be doing. My body gets pumped full of so many meds over the course of a few days, that it is confused. I know I have mentioned it before, but her...

 Round 7 was a go! I am glad, because I am ready to get all of this over with. I do like the 3 week time table so much better than the every 2 weeks. Guess that is good, because my next treatment is on a 3 weeks time table due to Memorial Day and the infusion center being closed. It is really nice to get a full week of feeling alive again!  Well, I wanted to keep that alive feeling going! I got home from the infusion early afternoon. I think I ate lunch/dinner or a snack. I really don't remember...chemo brain is a real thing and so much worse than pregnant brain! Anyway, after my snack or dinner, I put on shorts. I was still wearing my long compression socks and set of for a walk...pump and all.  So, what is in the box...black bag that I wear around for 3 days? This is the pump. I wear the bag backwards so you can't see all of the buttons. The 5FU is in the container at the bottom. It gets infused at a slow rate over 46 hours. It starts to beep when it gets low. The beeps...

 Round 7 of chemo was supposed to happen Monday. It didn't. My white blood cell count was too low. I can't say that I was surprised, but was hoping that wouldn't be the case. Caleb was sick. Morganne was sick. Sam got sick. Hannah didn't get sick. I didn't get sick either. Then after a long travel day, I had a long work day. I just was really tired. I slept almost 12 hours one night and it still didn't feel like it was enough. That was likely my body doing its job to fight off whatever they all had. Does that mean my already weakened immune system is beast mode?  The delay was kind of a blessing. I had to get a new (to me) car. I don't know what we are going to do with my old car. It is still at the shop, but we will need to tow it home. We still owe on the car, yet can't afford to replace the engine. I would like it back here because I have a lot of things in the car that I need. Then I need to figure out what to do with it. I am sure the bank will be c...

 I am sitting at the Ontario airport waiting to board my flight back to Texas...with a quick plane change in Las Vegas. The trip has been nice, hard, and relaxing all at the same time. Unfortunately, Marc has had some stresses at home. His car broke down and had to be towed Monday. $1,400 later it is working. Yesterday, my car died. It died forever. He spent $200 to tow it only to find out the engine seized up. So, I now need a new car. I am not sure how we are going to make it happen with zero financial options. Enough of that though. I will worry about that and my upcoming doctor appointments and chemo once I step foot back in Texas.  If you have followed along on facebook, then you have seen a small fraction of the photos that I took. Hannah and I arrived Monday morning. We mostly chilled at Josh's house the whole afternoon, since he was working. Tuesday afternoon we set off on a hike. This one was tough. I already knew my body was still fatigued from the previous week's ch...