Day 6 - First Cycle of Chemo

I had another sleepless night last night.  My stomach gurgled all night long as the Exlax I took was trying to do its job on my constipation.  I spent all night up and down and finally stayed up until 6 a.m. this morning.  I did sleep until 8 a.m.  I'm quite tired.  I don't like the side effect of the prednisone which isn't allowing me to sleep either.  I know I'm tired at 1:00 a.m. and I'm lying in bed with my eyes wide awake and my brain racing.  At that point, I just want it to calm down!!!

Anyway, I got some breakfast this morning and then had my shower and got ready to go for a follow-up appointment with my doctor.  He wanted to check me out after having the chemo injection.  When I came out of the shower, I noticed quite a bit of hair in the bottom of the tub.  I guess the next side effect is getting ready to happen -- loss of hair.  Thank goodness I have lots of hair and you can't see the difference yet.  When I mentioned this to Scott in the car on the way to the Cancer Clinic, it looked like the reality hit him.  He's very visual and so the fact that hair is starting to slowly fall out bothered him more than he thought it would.

While we were waiting for the doctor to come into the examination room, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I actually have cancer!!! I'm in the Cancer Clinic because I have cancer! I've been getting through the last while just one step at a time and living moment to moment, appointment to appointment. I guess today is a day of realizations for both Scott and I.

I just got home with some good news.  The constipation will subside by the weekend.  The sleeplessness will be gone tonight.  And the tumour in my neck lymph node is already down 1/4 of the size.  My doctor feels it should be half the original size by next Wednesday when I see him again.  It's almost like his news unlocked the bowels for me because didn't I have to run for the washroom after the appointment.  Thank goodness it didn't happen in the appointment.

On the way out of the clinic, I met a parent of  two of my students.  It was nice to be out and about and to see people today. When I got home, I checked the mailbox and was again overwhelmed by the support of family and friends who mailed some cards in support of me.  That support is well appreciated and according to my doctor, I will need that support in round 4 and 5 when I'm tired of the chemo and just want it to end.

I'm tired now, so I'm going to take a nap and catch up on the sleep that I missed last night.