Our story begins as Pooh awakens with a rumbly in his tummy. "I need Honey," says Pooh. Pooh gets out of bed and heads to the kitchen but there is no honey to be found. He heads to his hiding spots...none under the bed or in the closets. Desperate to find a smakeral of something tasty, Pooh headed to the Evil Lumps and Woozles Blog hoping to find a clue only to find there have been no updates since November!OK, Pooh...looks like it's time for the Narrator to take over this story:
I'M BACK!!!! And I apologize for the long lapse in updates. So let me take a moment ot give you a quick summary of the past few months.
November was an eventful month...it was the month I lost my hair and finally came to terms with my new appearance with helpful words of encouragement from friends and family. It was easy to look at me and see that I was "sick". I just didn't feel like myself and had to accept that was me and hair didn't really matter. I have a fabulous assortment of hats and turbans and even have a sassy wig with reddish highlights to complete my look on a daily basis. What do you think?
In December I finished the Red Devil portion of my chemo. I was so excited because this was supposed to be the worst part. I had manged it well other than feeling tired. Then came the first dose of the second form of Chemo...Taxol. Taxol is supposed to be more mild and tolerated much better than the red devil. Well, that's not exactly been the case for me. Taxol has caused extreme bone pain in my legs for 5-7 days post treatment making me walk like an old lady and feel very uncomfortable. In addition, the taxol has started some neuropathy in my hands and feet. Neuropathy is a numbness and tingling in your hands and feet due to some nerve damage. Even though I was uncomfortable, I kept pushing through knowing chemo would be over soon.
Then came January 2015. I won't lie...I was glad to say good bye to 2014. 2015 is a new year and it's going to be a good one. This is the year I plan to celebrate...I will say good bye to chemo and be deemed cancer free! And I plan to have lots of parties for any reason I can think of! Also in January Amanda came home from Italy! Words can't describe how amazing it is to have my whole family under one roof!! Since I was scheduled to have my last chemo on January 27, I put her in charge of my Good Bye Chemo Party. Oh how I have waited for this celebration....then we hit a small bump in the road.
I went for treatment yesterday and was put on hold for a week due to the neuropathy caused by the taxol. My medical team is taking some measures to improve these symptoms before my next treatment. I have 2 treatments left and am now slightly uncertain as to how these next few weeks will play out. I feel like Pooh but instead of looking for honey, I am looking for a treatment timeline. But I have to remind myself that I am in not control here and the bigger picture of my long term health is much more important that finishing chemo on January 27.
So, that's where we are...staying positive, celebrating the simple joys in life and looking forward to good health and much happiness in 2015.
