Day 21 - 4th Chemo Cycle

Today was a busy day in a way.  I had my doctor's appointment at 12:30 but I had to be there early in order to have my blood taken and tested.  The doctor was running late and I didn't get in to see him until close to 2 p.m.  I'm content to wait because he spent a very long time with me at my first appointment in January and answered questions I had.  He has never hurried me through appointments.  I took advantage of the waiting time by reading my current book.

My blood work is looking good which is why my cheeks are still pink.  My white blood cell count is just a nominal amount below normal.  My doctor is very pleased with my progress.  My hips started aching yesterday and continued today.  When I mentioned that to my doctor, he said it is a side effect of the prednisone.

My doctor reinforced the fact that we are in the home stretch.  After tomorrow, I only have one more treatment to go.  I treated myself to a visit with a friend over a cup of tea after my appointment.  As always, our visit went by very quickly and it was time for me to get home and make some supper.

I'm a little grumpy tonight as time marches along and tomorrow's treatment gets that much closer.  It was great timing then to receive a phone call from a neighbour informing me that she is part of a prayer chain and has them praying for me.  This brought me some comfort as I've continued to struggle to find peace heading into tomorrow.

Each night before a treatment, my husband tries to treat me to something out of our routine.  Most often, it's been bringing our dinner in from a take out place or something.  Tonight, he brought me a decaffeinated Tim Hortons coffee.  The coffee is special because after tomorrow, my taste buds will not allow me to have a coffee for almost a week and a half.  He got me a decaf coffee so that it won't interfere with my sleep.  Although, my sleep has been interrupted every night by night sweats.  Last night I was awake two times but the night before that, I had 4 night sweats throughout the night.  It makes for a long night.  Let's hope that tonight I have a good night's sleep so that I am well-rested when I wake up tomorrow and start my chemotherapy treatment at 8:30 a.m.