Round "2" done!

 Well I have to say that today was a pretty great day all considering. Round one was a trial run, I had zero idea what to expect and if you remember it didn't start out too well, with not getting my PICC line insertion the day of my first treatment. Then 3 days after chemo I was not doing too good and thinking good lord I don't think I can do this! I was in agony, my whole digestive system was screaming at me and saying what the hell have you done to me. Then the next few days were not too bad other than everything tasting horrible even the water was pretty awful tasting. Come Wednesday not sure what the heck happened but my whole body ached all over and I was in agony and wondered if it was attributed to the injection I gave myself for my RA, and with the chemo that possibly my neutrophils had dropped too low. Of course I'm surmising this because even though my family thinks at times I'm a doctor, I am not! 

Today however it all went super duper! I think the worst part of my day was getting startled from a deep slumber at Shawn using his electric shaver at 5:30 am this morning. It's a good thing however because we needed to leave by 6:15 to get to the hospital to get that PICC line in and I wanted one last hot shower without having to worry about getting the PICC line wet. I'm told not to get it wet because I could get an infection and with a history of low neutrophils that's not a good thing. We definitely do not want any delays with treatment, best to keep them on schedule.

Speaking of neutrophils, I had a repeat bloodwork after the insertion this morning because yesterday after seeing the oncologist he was quite concerned at how low my neutrophils were, they were only 1.3 even after getting the Lapelga shot 2 days after my last chemo treatment. I told him that I wasn't really surprised and that this was my norm, he was still surprised however and said they should be much higher with the Lapelga and talked about trying a different drug where I would need to inject for 5 consecutive days. Anyhow long story short, the neutrophils went from 1.3 to 8.3, I was quite literally shocked! The chemo nurse described it like this, it's like planting grass seed on cement when it comes to bone marow and once the grass starts growing it spreads like crazy. Quite the analogy, I say still in shock because its been nearly 3 weeks since my injection and I don't think my neutrophils have ever been that high. Lets hope that when I give my injections this Friday and the following Monday it will help me not feel so darn shitty. Stay posted!

So after my blood work the receptionist says let me see if we can fit you in sooner, because I was scheduled to come back at 12:45 for my treatment. Score!!! She says we had a couple cancellations this morning and we can fit you in for 10:30.  We decide to go for a nice breakfast at the Sunset Grill across the street from the hospital because it's only 9am. All goes really well administering the chemo drugs with the newly inserted PICC line and there are no glitches other than the machine beeping more than usual. I have to say every one at WCC are so amazing, beginning with the ladies at registration and the receptionist on the second floor to all the lovely nurses taking care of you, they are incredible and work so hard. I'm in shock at how many people in Niagara have cancer, it's packed with cancer patients here. The nurse tells me that they have the highest rate of breast and colon cancer. I remember Dr Phillips telling me during my meet and greet appointment that 1 in 8 have breast cancer, that's incredibly high. 

Being that this is my second chemo treatment, I'd like to think that I'm a little more prepared, or I'd like to think! After seeing the doctor yesterday he gave me a little more advice on how to take care of my unhappy digestive system, so we shall see. 

Last but not least, after we have breakfast Shawn notices that he's misplaced his cheapy $5 reading glasses. He goes out to look for them and even goes back to Sunset Grill thinking he may have left them there, they of course are no where to be found so the only thing he can do is play Quiddler with me because the letters are big enough to read. Great game if you've never played, and the lovely volunteer that brings us cookies, drinks and mints writes down this card game because she's never seen this game and is always looking for something new to play she says. I want to mention that I did win today, not sure if it was because Shawn couldn't see well, because he beat me pretty badly last time but I'll take the win while I can score!!!!

On to the lost glasses again as we leave the hospital to come home, Shawn happens to look down at the curb in the parking lot and low and behold his glasses are on top of the curb. Someone has obviously put them there in the hopes that whoever lost them would find them. See what did I say, a pretty super duper day!!! Now crossing my fingers that the next 9 days will be just as good as this day turned out to be!

I've enclosed a photo of my best friend and better half who's been by my side during this whole time during my chemo journey. How lucky am I!!!