The Low Period

It Doesn't Take Much Energy to Laugh at Yourself

As I write this today, I am in the midst of the low period.  This means my blood counts are low and I am at my most tired.  If you could only see me at work, documentary-style, The Making of a Cancer Blog, you'd note that I am going about this speed:

I do still try to be up and walking but my perception of how quickly I'm moving is apparently also somewhat stunted during this period.  Here's what my loving husband said about me last night: you look like Tim Conway...except he has more hair.

Shelly walks slower than this...but look at the head of hair on that guy!

This resulted in a contagious laughing fit that resulted in crying happy tears and me being...tired.  (And for the record we did just watch the Carol Burnett special in the hospital so Tim Conway was fresh on our minds...we're not just living in the 70's.)

Groundhog Day

Since we get to live the same three-week cycle over and over again, we were hoping to capitalize on our previous experience in order to reduce the side effects I experienced during the low period after Round One and, drum roll please.........so far we've had some success.  I don't think there's much we can do about fatigue and some GI tract and mouth issues (because those cells just got killed off and need to recover) but the mouth sores and constipation are thus far improved versus this point last time.  I'm also eating a lot more and tracking what I eat so I have lost less weight and am hopeful I'll have additional good days in which to try to gain weight back.

Eye on the Prize

At this point, we're just looking ahead to the start of Round Three.  Not only do we expect it to be our last round in the hospital but prior to starting that chemo round I will have another PET scan and we will know whether Louie is a shadow of his former self.  This will tell us whether the current treatment plan will continue as is.  This is the next nerve-wracking milestone because at this point I'm just going through chemo with no knowledge of whether it's working.  I'd like to hear that it's working...for an infusion of hope to go along with my next infusion of chemo.  I will keep you posted, of course.  PET scan on the 19th with results on the 20th...and then hopefully back to the hospital on the 22nd.  In the interim, I will be working on regaining strength and then fattening myself up.  (I keep saying to Scott that it's too bad we're vegetarians because a big mac and fries would practically double my caloric intake for a day - it's hard to find high-calorie grains and veggies!  If you have any ideas, leave comments here.)