Take Two

Round Two

Back in the hospital for the second round of chemo, we are paying close attention to our daily log from Round One, hoping to be more proactive so as to lessen (or avoid??) the side effects I experienced the first time around.  We started up yesterday and have finished the first of the three chemo cocktails that make up this five-day sequence - the first and the last are short but the one in the middle runs for four consecutive days and we started that one at 4:15pm on Friday....so we're expecting to finish it by 5:00pm on Tuesday - allowing for loss of time due to starting and stopping the infusion.  And then with the final 40-minute cocktail to finish things off we're really hoping we can be discharged Tuesday evening this time rather than spending another night.

My Hair, Or Lack Thereof 

Exactly on schedule, two weeks after I started the first round of chemo, my hair started falling out.  Luckily I had already chopped most of it off and then I also went to a buzz cut -nice that something actually stayed on a schedule so I could plan ahead!  My wonderful sister-in-law Lisa came over to the house and buzzed my hair just like she had done so many times for all of the men in the family!  The hair loss is still really messy even at that short length but it wasn't nearly as traumatic as it could have been with long hair.

Now it's mostly gone but I definitely don't have a nice smooth Sinéad O'Connor look happening.  In my mind's eye I think I look like Smigel in Lord of the Rings when he was going through the "transition" from good to evil and was clearly letting his looks slip...you nerds out there know exactly what I mean.  The rest of you can google it.

Luckily I have discovered a comfortable head wrap and that's what I wear most of the time now - pre-tied, it just slips on and off and is a nice weight.  Who knew there was a whole industry out there for chemo-related head gear?  These wraps were designed by two sisters who were going through chemo at the same time and who couldn't find anything that they liked so they designed their own (and I'm glad they did).

Perv B. II.

By way of more formal introduction and an added bonus of proof that both Scott and I are upright and in good spirits....blogosphere, this is Perv; Perv, this is blogosphere:

By the way, the B. stands for Beepy.  Perv beeps incessantly as air bubbles get into the infusion line.  Apparently one of the drugs in this particular cocktail is effervescent, like the world's crappiest champagne.  (Goes nicely with the world's crappiest hotel, aka Good Samaritan Hospital.)  Perv is particularly loud and obnoxious at night - I guess that's when he's most tipsy.  Really kind of a shit guy all around.

Stay tuned...I'll check in again in a few days...