Chemo Round #2 and Wigs

I had my 2nd chemo treatment last Wednesday (1/15/14).  My mom took me and as I walked into the chemo room to find a chair (there were only 2 empty - that is scary) my sweet friend, Tracy B. was waiting on me.  She brought me some magazines and a gallon of diet lemonade from Chick-Fil-A.  While I must say, I don't think I will ever be ready to receive chemo, it does make it easier and faster to receive the poison that is dripping through my body, when I have someone there to talk to.  I think I did most of the talking, with Tracy and mom just listening.  We did notice several patients drinking lemonade....I thought that was my own personal "after" chemo drink....must be the tartness (fyi - it was not my go to drink this chemo round...just didn't taste good)!!  Me and mom stopped on our way home to try on some wigs, I took some pictures so you can see.  My kids and husband don't like any of them and I am not 100% sure I even want a wig.  As I told my friend today, it really doesn't bother me unless I look at myself in the mirror...then I see a cancer patient and feel like I should be on one of those cancer commercials!  What do you think?

 

I got home and had a sweet surprise on my porch from another dear friend, Tracy F. and then another dear friend, Joy O. brought us enchiladas and sopapilla cake...yum! 

So my recovery after this round of chemo has been much harder than my 1st round.  My white blood cell count was at 1.8 on Wednesday (1/22) and so I have to be careful not to be around anyone that is sick.  I am extremely tired, so nauseous that the 4 drugs they gave me don't even help, hungry but don't know what I want to eat (so I drink a DQ Vanilla shake) and my lower back hurts like never before (that is where your bone marrow is produced, so hopefully it means that my white blood cell count is on it's way up).  One of the chemo drugs that I am getting right now is referred to as "the red devil" and that is the drug that kicks my butt and makes me so sick.  I can literally feel it affecting my brain as it is going into my body....a horrible feeling!

Wednesday (1/22/14) was Chuck's birthday and another sweet friend, Stacy M., treated us to Cotton Patch.  It was yummy!  This was also a very emotional day for me, I cried the majority of the day starting when I walked into the doctor's office.  You see, the sweet girl that works the front desk wasn't there when I went for my chemo treatment on the 15th or when I went for my Neulasta shot on the 16th.  I was told she was out sick.  When I went in on the 22nd for lab work and a visit with my oncologist, she was still not there and the magazine that told her story of surviving Stage 4 ovarian cancer was gone.  I asked where she was and was told that she had passed away.  I hope that would affect anyone, but as a cancer patient it affected me profoundly because it really makes you stop and think about every worse case scenario.  This girl always had a smile on her face and was so proud to talk about being in remission for the last year and that her scans were all clear in November.  She had developed leukemia from the chemo she received.  She found out on Monday (1/13) that she had leukemia and passed away on Friday (1/17).  I was so sad all day and just can't stop thinking about her, but God is so good and while I flipped through some old papers last night, I found something that I had ran across about 18 months ago on the internet and knew that I still had that paper for a reason.  So, I read it and am hoping and praying that I will not waste my cancer!  You can read it here http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/dont-waste-your-cancer.  I am going to keep this paper close to me and read it often, along with my bible verses from other dear friends, Barrie H. and Helen F.

Prayers needed for my energy, pain, white blood cell count to go up, for me to glorify God through my journey and not waste my cancer, and for my kids, husband and mom to be okay through my journey.

A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to each person that has reached out and loved and supported me and my family in some way throughout my journey.  I am so thankful for every meal, card, prayer, gift, ride, gift card, phone call, text, and head shaved.  I am even grateful for those people that hold the door open for me because I am bald and you feel sorry for me.  As my friend Kim T. would say I'm joking, but I'm really not joking! Without each of you and your prayers and our great God above, I am not sure how I would get through this journey!

I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. Psalm 62:5

Gloria