then they'll say to me, say to me, say to me, there goes the fighter, there goes the fighter. here comes the fighter, that's what they'll say to me, say to me, say to me, this one's a fighter

A day in the life of chemo. Please enjoy this (slightly blurry) photo essay courtesy of Connor.

Starting my day by filling out a survey about my symptoms for the previous week, and getting my blood pressure checked for an exercise study I am participating in.

 

treadmill time!

all done. had to scrounge up some paper towels to wipe down my head. Also, Connor says anytime he points a camera at me, I should smile. Now I know.

blood draw to determine if my counts are good enough for chemo.

waiting for infusion.

bathroom break with my pole. Lots of fluids!

So the new drugs seem to be pretty good so far. The only bad thing is that with Taxol they have to do a benadryl drip before hand to keep you from having an allergic reaction. Luckily I didn't have any reactions, but that doesn't get me out of the need for the benadryl each week. Basically this means I will be loopy for the rest of chemo days and require a 2 hour nap afterwards. Know this - the two hour nap is a glorious one. Benadryl doesn't play around.

I haven't gotten to my traditional "bad days" yet of acid reflux (that would be tomorrow-Thursday), but I am hopeful that it won't be a problem! I am still pretty tired... had a really big weekend with family members in town from both the Meehan and Warder/Wells side, so I pushed myself probably a little harder than I should have... but it was so worth it. For now I am glad to have another chemo checked off the list. Knocking 'em down!

Love y'all,
Jess