A Long-Overdue Blog Entry . . . .

Wow! Have I ever been slipping when it comes to updating my blog!

I have to apologize for that. Things have been a little hectic and weird around here. Anyway, since it's been a while, let's start where I left off with the last blog entry or two.

On my first January 30th post, I blithely wished everyone a good weekend and hoped everyone could get out and enjoy the warmer weather. What a joke that was! The Fates justly punished me, though, by making sure I was out in the country when the wild wind and snow hit, and that I was driving through the worst of it. Lucky me. That Saturday morning, Younger Daughter and I went out to visit my sister and bro-in-law. Here's a picture from that morning.



Since it was so beautiful out, we had a good time messing with the animals. I had wanted to get on the road home around 11:30, but my sister was making cinnamon buns and offered to give us some if we just waited half an hour or so until they were done. Well, how can you pass up free homemade cinnamon buns? In the half hour we waited - in fact, in the last five minutes - the weather went from sunny with a breeze to whiteout.

Well, what to do? Wait a bit and see if it clears up at all, or make a run for it? I decided to make a run for it and headed for home. It wasn't too terrible once we got on the main road south to Winnipeg; in fact, after the first fifteen minutes or so the snow lightened up so we could see a lot better. Once we got near Winnipeg, it changed from snow to light rain. The wind was pretty vicious all the way and it blew my little car around. Good thing the highways didn't ice up really quickly or I probably would have been blown into the ditch!

Anyway, we made it home, and I spent the rest of the weekend cursing Mother Nature and her nasty sense of humor.

I started the new chemotherapy regimen on Monday, February 2. The first new drug I was given was Leukovorin; it's administered by infusion and has basically no side effects. Its purpose is to improve the effect of the second new drug, Fluorouracin. This second drug is given over a 24-hour period via a pump that I have to wear in a fanny pack. My biggest concern with the pump was sleeping because I tend to toss and turn a lot, but I made it through Monday night/Tuesday morning without getting tangled up in the line.

I was also pleasantly surprised that neither drug seemed to have any serious side effect on me last week. Aside from feeling tired and sometimes sleepy, I felt pretty good all last week.

This week, I went through the same thing with the addition of Oxaliplatin, which was administered at the same time and by the same infusion as the Leukovorin. This drug has side effects. Dr. Cutie stressed that the main side effect for Oxaliplatin is sensitivity to cold, causing tingling in the hands and feet, and some other effects on the nerves in those areas. Well, he wasn't kidding! I was quite shocked Monday afternoon after chemo treatment when I used an unmittened hand to picked up a shovel out in the yard and immediately began to feel needles thrusting into my fingertips! Yikes! It took a few minutes for the needles to go away, too. Just cold air will induce the effect, so I have been very careful to wear good, warm mitts and to avoid the cold air as much as posible. Today that side-effect seems to be pretty much gone.

Another effect of the Oxaliplatin that I noticed Monday afternoon was what I can only describe as painless cramping. You know when you get a cramp or muscle knot in your hand that causes your thumb or fingers to curl into your palm? That's basically what happened to my left hand - the thumb sucked in toward the palm of my hand and I had to use my right hand to pull it back into position and then hold it there until the cramp dissipated. The really weird bit is that it was completely painless! On Tuesday, the same thing happened with my right hand. These cramps only last a few minutes, thank heavens!

So, the new chemo regimen is a bit more complex than the last one, and it does have some different side effects. I believe that as we move through the chemo cycles, there will be more side effects that show up, but for now I'm feeling pretty good. I know a lot of you have been very concerned about my least-favorite companion, the black dog. So far, he hasn't shown up and I don't think he will show up until the chemo drugs accumulate in my body enough to mess with my mind. I also have mom and dad here to help keep him at bay if he does come sniffing around.

That's about all I have to say for now. I'm not even going to start talking about the weather except to say it's been beastly!

Oh, I did want to mention the book I'm reading right now - Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Greg Mortenson builds schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and this is one book that y'all really should read! Thanks, E. S., for lending it to me!

Take care out there!

-- Lori