The effects of Taxol are cumulative. Although the dose of chemotherapy is always the same, as the weeks go on, it gets a little harder to take. Every week, the resulting nausea is a little stronger. Every week, the aches are a little more intense. Every week, the bone pain is a little sharper and has spread a little further. Every week, it gets a little harder to bear.
I’ve had a tough weekend. It’s just been nausea, aches, and bone pain, but the intensity of all three have increased over the past few weeks in particular, and I’m losing my weekends entirely to the aftermath of chemo. The nausea takes away my appetite, to the extent where I’m just not interested in food again until Tuesday, and then I have to be careful not to eat rich food after the week of crackers and peanut butter, or my stomach revolts. The aches make me cranky and the bone pain makes me crabby. Oh, and I should record here that neuropathy has set in and the ends of my fingers and toes have gone numb.
All in all, it’s been a truly delightful way to spend the week/end.
But, then, this morning, I woke up to blue skies, white clouds, and a hint of snow in the air. There was a promise of excitement about, and when I came home from cancer yoga, I took the (little) boys out for an afternoon of shopping and browsing at an independent book and toy store near us. We had a lovely time, and then went out to dinner.
And tonight? Tonight I am happier than I’ve been in days, as my boys sleep soundly upstairs, tired from a day out with their mommy, and I can check one more thing off my list. For this morning, my letter to the editor appeared in the Washington Post.
Add to that a nomination for a November Perfect Post (for part 1 in the series on How To Help a Friend) from Miscellaneous Adventures of an Aussie Mum , and a fun review at Review Planet this morning (the HP Compact Printer — way cool, my friends), and I can go to bed tuly happy and satisfied with my day.
Wishing you the same….
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