New Treatment

On Monday I started a new round of chemotherapy. Dr. S opted to be aggressive (raise your hand if you are surprised!) and I am receiving three different types of chemo at once. I have one week on treatment, three weeks off, then we go again. In about two months I will get a CT scan to determine both how the chemotherapy is working on the lymph nodes and how the radiation spheres have impacted the tumors in my liver.

[Note: Read the following paragraph when not eating.]
The side effects from this combination are quite different from the other types of chemo I have been on. I am still exhausted, but I also have a combination of acid reflux (which I believe is from the steroids they give me), mouth sores, and wet heaves - which leads to a big old ball of ouch when I try to drink or eat. I am hopeful these side effects pass quickly.

I am also still battling the hip pain. It is driving me nuts. I can't move comfortably and I think you all know I like to be active. After MRIs and x-rays the docs have concluded there is nothing physically wrong and the tumors have not spread to my bones, but there is inflammation - likely from the radiation I had last summer and fall. Unfortunately because I am on a blood thinner I cannot take something like Motrin, so I am on prescription drugs to help me with the pain. And those make me groggy...it is a vicious cycle.

The last bit is that I will lose my hair again. I am okay with it, but I was really liking my short curly style. Now I just have to find my bandanas because my noggin is not fit for baldness! (Don't try to tell me it is...it is bumpy and striped. Yes, striped.)