Chemo #12

Maybe it's just my attitude, but these chemo treatments are starting to seem like such a drag. Three hours of sitting there with an IV in my arm seems like a long time even though I know some people have to sit there a lot longer and lots of people have done it many, many more times than I have. I think maybe my arm is starting to get more sensitive to the IV and the chemicals, or is it mostly a mental thing? Because of the clots from the port in my right shoulder before we even got started, I've taken all 12 chemo treatments in my left arm. Of those 12, 10 have been in the same vein, and one of the other veins is still inflamed from a treatment several weeks ago.

On the positive side, I am completely free of pain killers, specifically narcotics. I had tapered off and finally stopped them several days before Chemo # 11. I had a lot of problems with fatigue that week but since then the fatigue has improved. Generally, I have felt pretty good, some nausea which is controlled by meds, still not as much energy as I'd like. I hope to start working mostly full time next week. As long as I continue to do as well as the last couple weeks, or better, full time shouldn't be a stretch.

Today's trip to the hospital didn't start well. When Vicki tried to start the car, nothing happened. The battery was dead. The car had sat for a week, but unless something was wrong, sitting shouldn't have killed the battery. Since Vicki plans on a trip to Burlington on Friday, I spent my "Chemo time" thinking about how to fix the car if I felt rotten. Fortunately, I didn't feel too bad to work on it. I jump started the car and drove to the dealer so they could do a load test on the battery. Found out they have been having a rash of bad AC Delco batteries. Mine was no exception; it failed the load test. Took the car home, removed the battery, then went and bought a new one. This definitely wasn't what I planned for the afternoon, but Vicki can drive the car.