End of Round Two

Today is my last day of the second round of chemo. I felt pretty good yesterday, but the nausea is setting in a little earlier than the last go 'round. I picked up some anti-nausea pills and they seem to be pretty good at keeping some of my symptoms at bay. Earlier today I went grocery shopping and nothing looked good on the shelves - not a good sign. I sat outside for a bit and I think the sun helped because I'm able to eat some mac-n-cheese now.

I had quite the experience at my "Look Good Feel Good" program I attended yesterday at NIH. Someone from the American Cancer Society explains how to put on makeup so we ladies can feel better while we're going through this horrible ordeal. They also give you a big bag of free makeup with products that include Chanel, Estee Lauder, MAC, Origins, and some other brands. The lady who taught the class does a lot of the local theatrical products around Montgomery County and she's a sweet older lady who has volunteered for the American Cancer Society for at least 14 years. There were only three ladies in the class, including me, but I think we all had some fun and got to enjoy a day of putting on makeup and playing with wigs.

I met my friend Greg for lunch at one of the NIH cafeterias since he works in a lab in the same building. I truly enjoyed my hamburger and onion rings, but I did cast longing glances at the salad bar. I'm not to eat raw fruits or vegetables and right now I'm starting to miss them. I never thought I'd say that! We had a very good lunch together, even though some of his co-workers looked confused that he wasn't eating lunch with his wife! Ooh, scandal!

Later in the afternoon, I went up to the day hospital for my daily pit stop. I got there early so I called my office, took a nap, and watched some TV (no Golden Girls, but I watched Full House). I should have gone down to the pharmacy to pick up my shortage of prednisone pills, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time. The pharmacy shorted me six pills and I had asked the nurse on Sunday to call it in for me, but she didn't so I had to wait almost an hour for the pills on Monday. On my way down to the pharmacy, I ran into the nice lady who had run the "Look Good" program in the morning. She has a patient staying with her and on their way out in the afternoon, they had gotten into a terrible car accident. The nice lady was fretting about being able to get home, and since she only lives a couple of blocks from NIH, I offered to drive her home. I felt bad for her, because she got stuck sitting in the pharmacy with me. She told me all about the accident, and I think she's very lucky she wasn't injured. Some car hit her and ran and pushed her car into a telephone pole and a tree. Luckily, no one else was hurt but her car is totalled.

Since today is my last day, I need to leave for NIH a little earlier than normal because they have to draw blood (the vampires), push several different medications, and then complete the cycle with a saline drip. I think it takes a couple of hours to complete, but I can't quite remember from last month. I need to make sure I have Mike's Ipod and a book. After today, I will have to take my temperature several times a day, try to eat, and drink plenty of fluids so I don't end up back in the hospital. I enjoy time away from home now and then, but I've had enough hospital stays, thank you very much.