Things are a little different this time

Here I am eight days into the next round of chemo. Eight days since my first treatment.

It is interesting that my reactions are different this time round. What is different?

I. I am not as sensitive to cold

2. For the first 5 days, I felt a little nauseous in the morning, not wanting to eat and even spending a few minutes over the sink a few times. I did not feel this as much last time.

3. My neuropathy has not gotten worse, notwithstanding the fact that the doctor said that it would.

What have I done differently? Even though I have been very busy, I have tried to get a little rest whenever I can. And, I feel as if I am even more positive than before and I thought that I was positive then. The research manager credits diet. In general, I think that I am taking more ownership for my care than I did previously. I even got permission to drive myself most of the time.

Bottom line: I have been comfortable wearing a red shirt each day. Everyone says that I look good with a hint of surprise, Even the bank teller said that I look good in red. I shared my story with her and she seemed touched.

When I talk about being positive, it depends on what we are talking about. I was invited to a talk on the benefits of magnetic therapy. (I was driven there in a new Mercedes) The theory is that if you hold a magnet(s) to your body with the north pole facing your body (The north pole is the negative pole), it helps to alkalize your body and the more alkaline your body is, the tougher it is for cancer to survive. The second half of the presentation is this coming Monday and I intend to attend. It  has raised some interesting things to explore. And so, I am positive about being negative. By the way, the liph that I take also adds to alkalinity.

The nice thing is that the people that invited me also went to the lecture and stayed to drive me home.

This is in sharp contrast to my experience with the driver. On our way to return Bob last Thursday, I realized that I had miscalculated the time that Bob would finish. As a result, we were in the range of two hours early. We stopped for breakfast, but still had too much time to justify the driver staying and so I told her to head home and that I would get home somehow. She willingly did so because Roger Federer was going to be playing on the TV that afternoon.

When I got into the center, I found out that there was not that much time left and so I called the driver who was not far away and asked her to return. I cried, cajoled, begged, offered to throw her a tennis game, moaned, agonized, sobbed, shrieked and threatened a baseless lawsuit and finally persuaded her to return. What is more, she does not drive a Mercedes!

One final note: Our local Publix will likely be sending us food baskets in the future. When I was prescribed nausea pills in the spring, I perceived that they were expensive and not feeling I would need them, I only took eight rather than the prescribed thirty. When it became obvious this past week that I was in need of more pills, the research manager called and indicated that we had only taken eight pills originally because of the cost and asked what the full prescription of thirty would cost. After some checking, the clerk told her that the thirty pills would cost $22. I went to pick up the pills with old shabby clothes as would befit someone that would have difficulty spending $22 for pills. The clerk gave me a sympathetic look. I suspect that she is hoping the tax cut will make my life easier in the future.

I am looking forward to a restful weekend and then back to chemo on Tuesday. Always something to look forward to!