Day two, round five of chemo is going well so far. The battery pack clicks and whirs (with a slight whistle too) that I notice every so often when I'm quiet. I survived my first night this round of sleeping with my fanny pack, although I experienced some fierce hot flashes last night. Mike says it's like sleeping with a heating pad so he doesn't sleep well either during this time. I always get hot flashes during chemo and then they subside a little afterwards. I woke up drenched in sweat the other day, which is not a fun experience. Sleeping with my fanny pack on always takes some getting used to because I have to be careful if I turn on my side in my sleep and the bag is a little heavy too.
I've been eating well today and am snacking throughout the day while I'm still really hungry. I always hope to gain five pounds during chemo treatment because the prednisone makes me hungry, but I never seem to gain more than two pounds at best. I'm working hard to gain some weight! I think my aunt was surprised when she saw me on Wednesday at how skinny I've gotten since she hasn't really seen me since May. I try to wear clothes that don't hang off my body because they emphasize how skinny I am, but it's hard since most of my clothes do that now. Cousin Gina gave me a pair of her jeans and they actually fit me right now so I wear them more than my old jeans. I don't know what I'll wear when I return to work because I don't want to buy a bunch of new work clothes because I know I'll be gaining weight at some point. Gail says I should go to the thrift shop for new clothes and I probably will do that so I have something to wear that actually fits. I did buy a pretty new turquoise blazer last week and I made sure it will fit me later too. I plan to wear it on my first day back at work because it's a really good happy color.
My pit stop at NIH went really well and the nurse was really fast. I really felt like I was in a NASCAR race because she was so quick! I've never had her before so we didn't chit chat like I do with Vanessa, Sondra, or Yvonne. I did see Leslie, but she wasn't my nurse today. I also didn't see my fellow EPOCH patient, Steve, but he was at NIH almost two hours before me. I think I took longer in procedures yesterday because they were having some problem putting in my IJ line. Steve also gets in line before I do so they take him back to the operating room before me. He has to drive five hours back home on Tuesday so I'm happy he gets out two hours before me. I usually have to be at NIH at 3pm for my pit stop, except on Tuesdays, when I have to arrive at 1pm for my last dose of nasty chemo. I get rituxin on Friday and have to stay all day in case I have bad reaction to it and I get cytoxin on Tuesday and I could have a bad reaction to it too. They also have to pull out my IJ line on Tuesday and then I have to wait 30 minutes after that so I don't bleed to death when I stand up. I never get home until around 6pm on Tuesday.
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