Getting through it

Single digit days left!! Last radiation treatment AND last chemo pill is the 30th.

It's been a rougher couple weeks than the first two. I've written about the other side effects I've had so far: the headache/vomiting episode, heartburn, fatigue, heart palpitations, etc. The most recent is this chest stuff. I am having chest pain from anxiety, get tired out even going up the stairs, heart palpitations sometimes every few minutes. The anxiety from the symptoms makes them worse too so it's a bad cycle. Luckily, the medications seems to be helping, except the steroid, which makes some things much worse while helping others. I am stepping down the steroid now, thank goodness, but my headache came back this weekend so I'm concerned I'll have to stay on the lowest dose longer term possibly through all of October. At least I'm sleeping better overnight now that the dose is lowered.

The doctor talked to me Friday about the "recovery" from the treatment. It seems weird to say it that way, but it does take time for the side effects of treatment to dissipate. The main symptom is the brain swelling, which is why I am thinking I'll have to be on the steroid for the recovery period. She said there will probably be a honeymoon period, not sure how long, where I'll feel better. Then there will be a crash of energy and total recovery could be 4-6 weeks.

I am planning to go back to work the Monday exactly a week after the end of treatment. I am hoping to get at least one good week of work in before the tiredness sets in and I have to cut back some hours. I also start the 5/23 schedule of higher dose chemo at the end of October (I think I'll be on it for my actual birthday and Halloween) and not sure how I'll react that week or the following week. This is the time when I do 6 rounds of the chemo, 5 days taking the pills and 23 days to recover. The first "follow-up" MRI, baseline, will be end of October too.

At the end of the second week of work, which will be about 2.5 to 3 weeks after treatment, Charles and I have a trip into DC scheduled. His wonderful parents got us a hotel room for 2 nights and are watching all the kids so we can have a weekend to ourselves to be tourists. It's a combination celebration for Charles' 30th birthday, my upcoming birthday (not 30!), our 7th wedding anniversary, and end of treatment. We have lived metro accessible to DC for 12 years and only get in to do the touristy stuff about once a year, around Cherry Blossom time when/where he proposed to me in 2005. This will be a great trip for us and I hope my fatigue doesn't dampen it too much. We're considering renting a wheelchair if I need it.

Tonight, I have a social mixer in DC for a "Young Adults with Cancer" support group. It's for people in their 20's, 30's, and 40's. This will be the first event that I attend with them. I'm not sure what to expect really but it'll be nice to meet people in person who are going through or have been through what I am. I'm naturally and introvert so events like this tend to tire me out.