Ups and downs

I should probably try and write something a bit more often than this, the days just seem to trundle past......

On Sunday I was pretty good. We went to church and things were fairly normal. I got my act together and wrote a shopping list and then went to the shops to get groceries and fruit and veg. Once I got home it was time to get the children into the bath etc. I had seen a recipe for noodle cakes and thought it might be worth a try to see if Maesie would eat them but no. Yet another refusal. She has been enjoying homemade ice blocks though and I have been putting carrot juice in them so at the moment it's vegetables by stealth in our house.

Monday was good for most of the day. Dave taught his Body Combat class in the morning and while that was on the girls went to the Starplex creche and I did Body Vive. It was a good class but I couldn't do everything and I was tired at the end. My muscles are wasting away and I felt a bit pathetic. After my class I went and had a blood test.

I got my results back and, huzzah!, my white blood cells were finally back up. 31.7 to be exact. That was good to know, but my haemoglobin was still down (83) and both my potassium and magnesium were low so I have been taking more tablets to get them up. I'm not entirely sure why potassium and magnesium are so affected - a question for the doctor. I've got a few questions for him this week.

Monday arvo was just at home and in the evening I watched the tennis and folded washing. Part way through though, I started to feel a bit weird. I was really tired, my eyes were a bit blurry and I could hardly even fold the washing. It wasn't that good. I went to bed. When I woke up yesterday, I still wasn't that good. I had a headache and still felt ultra pathetic. I had my breakfast and my tablets and did very little for the morning. By about midday I was a bit better and we went to Dave's folk's place for Australia Day. I felt better by the end of the day and was happy that things were back to being closer to normal.

So that gets me to today. I am still at Dave's mum and dad's with the girls because Dave is at work and we weren't sure how I'd be today and it's good to have a hand. I am taking it easy and not doing a whole lot, trying to stay up before treatment starts again next week.

The other day I noticed that the tips of my fingers have started to lose a bit of feeling. That was one of the possible side effects of one of the drugs so it's not really a surprise. It's not too bad just yet but I'm not sure how much worse it might get.

This round has been a bit tougher than number 2. I was more tired and washed out. I still managed to avoid infection and hospital, which is a bonus, but there have been quite a few days where I haven't really been able to do much. School has started now which means Dave is back at work and soon Maesie and Elsie will be back to pre-school and swimming and other things so I'm not quite sure how all of that will work in with treatment and my patheticness. I will need to come up with a plan.

The next round is number 4 and should be the last of the more intensive doses. After that I will have scans and tests to have a look at how effective the chemo cocktail has been. I am feeling a little nervous about that as it gets closer because I really want it all to be gone but I fear it won't be. I guess it depends a little bit on the results of the scans etc but at the moment the plan is for four more rounds at a reduced dose. I'm not sure what the difference in doses is, that's another question for the doctor on Friday.