Shared Strength

The second cycle of treatment is officially over, but not without trial. These drugs choose not to go easy into the night. On Monday I received a Bleo treatment, which is a short 30 minute iv. Sadly, Bleo, myself and the Nuelasta medication that they gave me the week prior do not live in harmony when mixed. This has now happened twice, both times were the third week of the cycle. So what happens you are probably wondering, well, I get home after the treatment feeling fine, then after about an hour I start to feel chilly. This chill quickly turns into all out freezing to the point that I can't stop shaking. It forces me to cover up with about 20 blankets to get warm. This lasts for about two hours, then I get to enjoy a temperature of about 104. But it is usually about this time that I can start taking fluids again. After about two more hours the fever subsides and I slowly heal through the evening. The closest thing I can describe it to is a tsunami, because it hits har...

What a beautiful week this has been, it is sunny warm and I am feeling good. I have been slow to write because I have lacked significant inspiration. Turns out that for being such an optimist I must actually find my writing in the depths of personal anguish and times of trials. But I am feeling good and that is worth writing about, so I am just going to do it. A couple of things worth being excited about this week. A) Love is in the air: My good friends Kristen and Eli have decided to get engaged and that is a good thing. Every once in a while you meet two people that fit and they are two of those people for me. B) Countdown of treatment stands at T-Minus 7 days and counting, down from 21 when I started. I have come to fully appreciate my mind and body when it functions properly, I have a new respect for it and don't think I am going to let too many goods days get away from me in the future. C) 9-11 was today: This does not make me feel good, in fact, it is a day that b...

We are now cruising through week number 4 on our journey and this is one of the big ones for me. It has gone suprisingly well. But, I am getting ahead of myself, week 3 finished up last week and I felt great. By the end of Sunday evening I was back to myself, despite the significant loss of hair. My hair started to fall out on Tuesday while I was in the shower, it was a very unique experience for me. By Thursday it was all over my pillow, but due to my fine hair it was hard to notice that it was thinning. By Friday I shaved it down to the lowest level on the clipper set. This made the itchiness increase so Erin took the razor to my cranium. I have been told that I have a rather good shaped head, which is suprising because when I had hair and felt up there it always seemed to be full of bumps and crevasses. That being said, it still is in need of a little sun, but I can't blame my scalp for being pale I have kept it covered for 27 years. Outside of that I went and played ...