Hi all,
Chemo was on Tuesday and I didn't have time to get on. I talked extensively with my oncologist about the side effects of the chemo and the medicine that has been prescibed. The anti-psychotic medicine-zyprexa is not only used for schizophrenics, but it is also used for people are bolimic and anarexic It helped so much with my nausea, but it made eat like a barbarian. There was no satisfying my hunger. One night I was up 3 times after being bed...I first craved the melon that was cut up in the frig. I ate it standing up right out of the bowl. I went back to bed and started thinking about something else...it was the cream horns on the counter. Well, it didn't take me long to get out of bed (like 10 minutes) and woofed down 2 with a big glass of milk which I had to swish around in my mouth to get it to room temperature so it won't irratate my throat (A side effect from the oxaliplatin chemo). Needless to say, I earned all the weight back that I had with the previous treatments. I can actually say that last Friday was the first time since my surgery, Sept. 1, that I have felt like my old self.

Along with the hunger issues, I am having a hard time sleeping. I haven't been taking any day naps, but I haven't had a good nights sleep for a long time. Again it is probably from the nausea medicing and also the anti-depression medicines (which is going much better). So to sleep, I am using a prescribed sleeping pill and last night I slept like a brick...it was great. Unfortunately, I need a nap this morning after I accidentally pulled the huber needle out of my port which is how the chemo goes in the two days after chemo. Well, I wasn't worried when it came out, but Rick was on the phone to the home health care nurses to alert them of what I had done and they were out here in less than and hour. They had to insert the needle in twice, they missed the port opening the first time...shit. So the second one was successful. The most important thing about getting the needles was so that my port could be flushed so that it didn't clog with liquid from this session and obstruct the line for the next ones. I can tell you that I don't want any other proceedures to recover from. So the nurse returned 4 hours later to take the pack and needle out. Excitement here at my house.

Rick and Jake think I was most like myself in a long time just from the zyprexa. So now, I am starting it on Thursday after chemo and taking it through the weekend, Sunday night whick helps me through the next couple of days before it gets out of my system. Even though it helps with the nausea, it is not a good feeling. The hunger is just at an unsatisfying urge. I guess that is why it is good for people with eating disorders.

I have now completed 5 chemo sessions with 3 remaining. I can see the end...all of my appointments are scheduled and come or hell or high water, I will not miss any of the dates. This will finish me up on March 16 (10 months exactly from when I found out I had cancer). Can you believe it...it has been a long road and I am so ready to get back to a routine at work and start working out to get back the muscle tone I have lost from being so sedimentary. Besides, I have to be looking hot for Jordan's wedding (haha). Really I just want to have the energy to enjoy all of festivities.

Dr. Helft said it would be a year before I get back to my physical condition before cancer. Wow, that is a long time. He said it would be 3-6 months after my last chemo before I would have all of the chemo out of my system...so I could have lingering side effects that long. I will have a PET and CAT scan to see if they see any hot spots of cancer a year after surgery so that would be around Sept. 2010. I am still healing inside and out from surgery but no longer taking pain medicine.

All of the changes I have gone through have altered how I do a lot of things. I am dealing with them and have occasional breakdowns, but the are getting less. There are many others in much more serious conditions. I am here and I plan on being here for a long time...lucky for my family and friends. So anyway, again I want to thank all of you who continue to pray for me, and the kind words from cards, notes, phone calls and of course, food brought out. Rick and Jake are extremely thankful. I am not sure when I have to stop playing the cancer card. I think my family is expecting me to return to cooking after all of this. Isn't 30 years of cooking long enough (haha).

So I will blog again after the next session...thanks. Judi