I had one of my short treatments yesterday morning before I came in to work. The actual process of putting in the medicine didn't take but thirty minutes, but getting me ready took a little longer. I can't really use the good vein in my right hand right now. It has been stuck so much that it is getting harder to put the needle in. We were able to use my left hand with no problem, though.
I am at the point with my treatment now where my white blood cells are starting to fade. This is normal so it's nothing for me to be alarmed about, but I just have to be careful about where I am and who I am around. I have some hand sanitizer at my desk now, so I'm hoping I'll be in good shape. No one at work is really sick as far as I know (besides one guy that has two kids with the swine flu -- he hasn't been in this week, though, thankfully). Still, the nurse had to speak with the doctor before giving me my medicine yesterday. My WBC level was at 2.0, where normal levels are between 4.0-11.0. Dr. Walsh said that since it fits within the timeline to go ahead and give me my normal medicine. I have been looking online at ways to try and raise the WBC levels, so I'll probably be beefing up my vitamin c, zinc, and beta-carotene intake. I'll go to Walmart and get some stuff for that. I'm always looking for a good reason to get out of the office on days like today when I brought my lunch.
While I was getting the medicine yesterday the nurse asked me if I was having any problems. I told her no, then I brought up a minute later that I had been breaking out on my chest, stomach and back, but I figured that was normal. Apparently she hadn't been listening because she thought I was talking about working out and was saying that was a good thing but to try not to get dehydrated. Kind of a weird mixup but I didn't even correct her.
I talked to the man that was sitting in the chair beside me. He's the same guy that had the reaction to his medicine a few weeks back, and he's still having some problems he said. He has been battling lung cancer since being diagnosed in May, though he said he feels like he's had it for a while (like around last December). He had radiation therapy for the first few months, and has now moved in to some pretty strong chemotherapy that he takes weekly. He has his hair still, but has more serious complications than I do. I feel bad for the guy and really hope this works out for him. He's a nice dude.
In a little unfortunate turn, I won't be able to get my port put it in enough time to start my next cylce. This is really frustrating, since I have been asking for one since the Friday of my first week. The doctor's office that I went to this past Friday couldn't set it up for me while I was in the office, because they needed to get in touch with Humana first and determine in which facility Humana wanted the surgery to be done. I couldn't really argue with that, since it really beats having to pay for it, but Humana wanted it done through a Baptist facility that's earliest availability is Tuesday, August 25th at 11:00 AM. That really doesn't work for me, since I start my second session the day before that and chemo is not something that can just be rescheduled. I had Dr. Walsh's office try and work it out with them where maybe I could get the port either first thing in the morning or last thing in the afternoon on that day, but it didn't happen and for now I will just need to put this surgery off for a few more weeks. Disappointing, yes, but not the end of the world. At least everything else is still going fine; finding a vein to use is a small deal.
I left the office around ten or a little after and had to go straight to AutoZone. While I was driving up yesterday my check engine light came on, and I wanted to go ahead and get that taken care of. I had two oxygen sensors in my truck go bad, which the guy that checked it out for me said leads to poor gas mileage and some other performance issues. He seemed to know what he was talking about so I went ahead and bought them there. They weren't cheap, but I'm hoping I'll see a difference in the amount of gas I burn going to work now. I got Dad's mechanic in Byhalia to fix it up for me later yesterday, and Dad let me take his car to Tupelo, so that all worked out.
I was in Macy's buying a shirt last Friday after I left the doctor in Southaven, and saw some hats that I liked. I usually don't do hats, but thought it would be cool to have one after I cut my hair, and I could tell that the time was coming. So yesterday when I got done dropping cash at AutoZone I stopped by Macy's again, since the one in Collierville is on the way to Byhalia. They had a few, but one fit me pretty well and I really liked it. It seems like it will go with this sports coat I have, so maybe I can wear it out some.
I went to work after getting Dad's car. I stopped at Wendy's in Holly Springs and got a grilled chicken sandwich, no fries though. I am at the point now where I can eat regularly but I am still trying to keep everything fairly healthy. I got to work a little after twelve and had a pretty full day working on this one project for one of our utilities. By the time I left for the day, I had made up my mind I was going to go ahead and cut my hair off.
I started noticing around Saturday that my hair was showing up a lot of different places besides my head. Some of it was coming out in the shower or in the sink, and any time I ran my hand through my hair or messed with it for any reason, some would come out. Sunday it was getting worse, and by Monday night I was sitting on the couch and noticing more and more just showing up on my t-shirt. Some of it was coming out with me even touching it. Tuesday morning I could feel some on my pillow. It never got to the point where any clumps came out, and I haven't had any bald spots showing up, but it was obviously just a matter of time before that happened.
So after seeing my hair collect all over my desk and keyboard yesterday afternoon, I figured it was time I just got rid of it before it got to looking too bad. People say that losing hair is one of the most traumatic parts of going through chemo, and I am sure that is true for some people, but it hasn't bothered me yet. If I was younger it may be different, but after hearing about the chemo from Dr. Roth in Nashville, I have been expecting to lose mine at this time (after 14 days) since before I even started. The medicine I take, not to mention how often I take it, is too strong to not kill my hair cells.
Dad called a lady that goes to our church and cuts hair in Waterford, Mrs. Dolly (or Mama D) and she was glad to see me on my way home from work. I went to her shop and pretty soon she had shaved off all my hair. You can still see some, it's just a really short buzz. I figure that all that will come out at some point because the hair is either dead or dying but it won't be as obvious as it was with long hair. I didn't really want to take a razor to it, either, because I didn't want to deal with the razor burn.
I was kind of worried that I would have a misshaped head; I haven't had a shaved head since I was a little kid and I didn't have a choice. All through school and after, I have always had hair, whether it was short or long, so I have never even seen my head. The good news is that I don't have any lumps, and the birthmark on the back of my head apparently isn't too noticeable. It's still taking some getting used to, but I don't think I will hate it. It really doesn't look bad at all.
When I got to work today, there were about ten hats sitting on my desk that people had brought in early. Later on throughout the morning, more and more people brought hats in to add to the collection. Right now the number is at twenty. I figure that will be all of them. I got a couple trucker hats, some CSA hats (one of which my boss wrote "Go To Hell Ole Miss" all over, since he's a huge MS State fan. I don't have the heart to tell him that I never got into the Ole Miss/State rivalry), a hat from the Pontotoc country club which is pretty cool, and some fedoras that I liked. I even got an Elmo hat and someone's old doo-rag. The rest of them can be seen in the pictures below. It's a pretty funny collection and a nice surprise from the coworkers, who have been really cool this whole time I've been going through this.
That's about all I've got for today. I'm going to get back to work and maybe try to do something (I haven't really done anything at all today. My phone has been quiet and I finished everything else I was working on before nine this morning). Hope everyone reading is having a good week.
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