The End of Round Three

Round #3 is over. Kevin successfully removed the needle once again and I didn’t even start to pass out this time. It is always such a relief to finish, though. I don’t really like carrying around chemo drugs and having them pumped into my body. But, I can’t really complain about the side effects. I have noticed more tingling in my fingers which is helping me be much more careful about touching cold things. It feels strange to sit and have people serve you when you are otherwise perfectly capable, but you just can’t touch anything cold. Since most everything comes out of the fridge, that means I am not very capable of preparing my own food. Luckily I have people around to help me with that.

Right now my Uncle Ivo is in town which is very nice and he has been able to help me out during the day while Kevin is gone or when I come home early from church...But other than my cold sensitivity and tingly fingers, feeling a bit more tired and a general icky feeling, I really have nothing to complain about. I have been handling these treatments quite well and hopefully will be able to continue to do so.

I will get a bit of a reprieve for Thanksgiving. My next treatment is suppose to be on Thanksgiving but nobody wants to work then so I get to wait until the following week for my next treatment. That will be three whole weeks between treatments. I ought to be feeling pretty well that week.

Then, on Dec. 18, the day I have round #5 I will also get a CT scan so we can see how these treatments have affected the cancer. It has clearly done something to the cancer in my lungs since I am coughing a lot less. I feel pretty confident that the day is not too far away when I might actually be able to sleep lying down.

I have switched to smaller oxygen tanks. They don’t last as long as the bigger ones, which is a little sad, but they are so much more convenient since they are small enough that I can carry them in a little bag on my shoulder. Rather than give out a continual stream of oxygen, these only put out oxygen when you inhale, therefor you don’t use as much and can have a smaller canister. The fact that I can use this kind is also good news because it means my oxygen needs are not so high that I have to have the continual stream. So all in all, I think things are going well. My immediate goal was to get the cancer out of my lungs so I could live a more normal life, it seems that we are moving in that direction. I thank you all for your continued prayers and well wishes. I know I have been blessed and I am incredibly grateful.