Closing the gap -- 3 down, 9 to go.......

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.  ~Buddhist Saying

Fortunately, this weekend is much better than last weekend.  No real side effects from the Taxotere this time, other than some mild nausea and a fair amount of fatigue.  I met with Dr. Sprawls’ nurse practitioner, Katie, on Wednesday and told her about the terrible time I had last weekend with excruciating abdominal pain.  She was quite concerned about it and offered to give me a prescription for Bentyl, an antispasmodic.  I’m not really too excited to add any more drugs to my repertoire; however, there was no way I wanted to go through another weekend like last weekend, so I begrudgingly filled the script.  Katie also said she would talk to Dr. Sprawls about the pain I experienced.  After my appointment with Katie, I went upstairs to the poison center/chemo suite – all the nurses there are really nice.  Katie came up and talked to me while I was getting “the drip,” and she said she had talked to Dr. Sprawls who was also concerned about the abdominal pain.  In fact, he wanted to delay the chemo, but they finally concluded that since I was feeling good that day and my white count was up (4.78), we should keep going.  Yay!!  Let’s get this over with!

Here it is Saturday evening, and I’ve been feeling pretty good since the last chemo infusion.  I started taking the Bentyl yesterday morning and will take it through the weekend.  I had some very mild abdominal pain last night – tolerable – and some nausea and fatigue today – also tolerable.  So who knows if the Bentyl kept the pain away this weekend or if last weekend was just a fluky thing?!  I’ve also been trying some things that Bill recommended, too – Flor-Essence tea, aloe juice, peppermint oil in water – and I’m sure those things are helping to calm my stomach.

Maybe now I can get some of those things done on my “to do” list…..except I can’t find my list!  Guess I’ll have to re-create it.  Not a problem.  Now I have even more things to add to it.  Kenny is back up in Jacksonville working on the boat, so I’ll be without a car until Tuesday afternoon.  Our good friends, Debbie and Bill, even offered to let me use one of their cars, which is really nice, but I think I’ll be fine without a car.  I stocked up on groceries this morning, so it shouldn’t be a problem.    

I also have some very delicious homemade soup and stew that our good friends, Sandy and Don, and Sandy’s Mom, Janice, made for us.  Janice made a huge pot of delicious homemade chicken soup, and Sandy and Don made a huge pot of delicious chicken and spinach stew.  Don dropped them off at the RV when I was at the chemo center on Wednesday.  So thoughtful!  And what a nice treat not having to worry about what to make for dinner.  Kenny and I enjoyed them for 3 nights, and I still have enough to last me through the weekend.  Thank you, Janice, Sandy, and Don! 

I guess I don’t really have too much other news, so I will sign off for now.  Time to take the dogs out for a walk and then time for me to call it a day.