5 Down, 1 To Go

Well it has been a slow week, this past week. Did not score at hockey Thursday night so my shut out is lasting a long time. Band practice was good on Friday. Played baseball on Monday and scored the winning run. Cassy had a soccer tournament on the weekend and her team won first place. I made cinnamon ice cream on the weekend and it was very good.

Round 5 went in on Tuesday, not without its challenges. It started on Monday where I woke up later than usual, after 9:00. As always, I had my coffee while I read my paper. Since it was the kids’ first real day off of summer, we decided to take them out to lunch at Pizza Hut. Afterwards, we went to Costco to primarily get me coffee but got a bunch of other things as well. This trip (and maybe a bit of pizza buffet hangover) got me really tired for the rest of the day. I still made it to baseball but I did not have a lot of energy and needed to run the bases a lot so I was out of breath more this game than in past ones. We went to one of our teammates’ place after the game for beer, wings and swimming.

It was mid way through the party when I realized that I forgot to give blood that day! I need to do this before each chemo treatment. Luckily, I still have a copy of my standing rec for blood work so I could get this done at the hospital prior to my treatment. This just meant that I needed to skip hockey that morning (which I had already planned on doing based on how tired I was on Monday). MA and I were at the hospital before 9:00 am so that I could give blood. I was taken right away and was done before MA parked the car and was back in the building. My chemo appt wasn’t until 10:00 and they never take me on time so we waited around and watched some of the DVDs we had. We got our call and we proceeded to a new pod for my treatment. In the past, I would be sent to pod 6 but this time I was sent to pod 4. Maybe this was a sign but this pod was nearest to the cancer bell and, while we were there, somebody got to ring it. Good for them! My turn is coming very soon.

As I mentioned earlier, I was very tired going into this session. Also, given all that we did on Monday, I may not have been as hydrated as I usually am when I show up for treatments. When I play hockey prior to the treatment, I will chug a litre of water during the game. This morning, all I had was coffee and not much water the night before. This made my veins a little harder to find so it took four pokes to finally start the IV line. Going to have some nasty bruises next week. And they were worried about me getting hurt in hockey!

Again, this time around, I needed to get an anti-nausea dose during my chemo. Was not feeling well and being very tired did not help. After lunch, I dosed off intermittently for the next 3h. I was still a bit woozy and weak after the treatment was done so they got me a wheelchair to get me to the car. It was funny as this time MA had to wheel me around after my treatment (about time!) When I got home, I slept for another 3h. I am not sure what is making me so tired. The only difference in medication this time is that the doctor prescribed me a synthetic marijuana pill for my nauseousness and restlessness. I took it the night before and the morning of my chemo treatment. It is a man made drug that is similar to one in marijuana that reduces nausea, especially for cancer patients. I was hoping for the real thing but this will have to do. It is working well on the nausea but is keeping me more tired with a very dry mouth. I am hoping that I get some energy for later in the evening as I would still like to go play hockey. On the plus side, this new drug is helping with me sleeping. I have not needed to take any Ativan this time around. Also, the metallic hangover that I usually get after each treatment does not seem to be as strong this time so I am taking less of the other anti-nausea pill. They say that marijuana is a gateway drug but, for me, it is helping me get off other meds!

I am still struggling with plans for the weekend. I would like to go to North Bay to see Mom. I just do not know if I have the strength to do so and will it take too much out of me that I will be dead for the next two weeks? If I go, I am going to want to go to the cottage. I will also want to visit my aunt and uncle and any other family wanting us to visit. This means that I will not have much rest while I am there. With my nausea, the 3.5h car ride is not fun either. At this point, I am leaning more towards staying in Ottawa. Just not sure when we will be able to go again this summer so it will be a shame to miss this chance. I have to do what my body will let me right now even if my heart wants something else.