Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Not just another day-of-thanks post

I have finally turned the corner on the fatigue, and yes it took longer this time.  I asked Dr. Oncologist about that today, about the nearly infinite fatigue, and she said that it's not uncommon for the fatigue to last a bit longer with each treatment.  Argh.  I find it so frustrating to be knocked over by the fatigue, probably because there is so much that I want to be doing.  But it is truly impossible to overcome the fatigue, and believe me, I try to overcome.  It's like someone put lead in my bones.  Nothing to do but lay down and wait (and wait, and wait) for it to pass.  And it is passing.  I'm a third of the way through the hard chemos, huzzah!    

I am aware that I am slouching on my graphs.  This is because my white blood cells are uninteresting.  Apparently I have Wonder Woman white blood cells that are unaffected by chemotherapy, or the weekly analysis is too infrequent to capture their periodic demise.  I will continue to think the former, although the later is certainly closer to the truth.  My platelets, however, are doing something interesting, so let's graph those now.  I plotted "chemotherapy" arbitrarily, giving the hard weeks a value of 100 and the easy weeks 0, because it's easier to do that than give the graph a second y-axis.  You can see that my platelets hate the hard chemo as much as I do, if not more.  Dr. Oncologist says not to worry, I'm not going to bleed to death, but don't take any ibuprofen or other platelet-killer drugs.    



I think I would fail as a blogger if I didn't wax somewhat sentimental on Thanksgiving Eve.  I do indeed have tons to be thankful for, first of all that the cancer was caught in the act and not after the crime.  I have a fantastic husband and the absolute best daughters in the world.  And have you met my parents?  Or my brother or sisters?  Or the rest of my family?  Not to mention my friends, who bring talents and laughter from around the globe right into my life.  I have an enviable collection of loved ones, and I am thankful for all of you.  I am sending you electronic, germ-free hugs right now.  I love you.  

Speaking of loved ones, my siblings are converging on my living room tonight to eat pizza and watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  Might be the first night in a week that I stay up past 9:30, so look out!


Long overdue Poke tally:
"port"  4
left arm  4
right arm 3
tummy  2
left breast  1
superior vena cava 1

  

6 comments:

  1. I am another "Blogger's" mother. She is blogging her plight of pregnancy. I happened to see that she follows yours, for which, I now will too. I enjoyed reading this for I am a cancer survivor now of 11 years. Thank you for letting me have your insight on things.
    Maggie

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  2. Giving thanks for you HK!! The lovely woman, (wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, friend) who provides infectious laughter, patience, love and kindness to all. Thanks, too, for your mega blogging talents--and the meaningful words and information you provide us on the girl we love and care about so much!! Wonderful to hear you're rallying past the fatigue once again and had a fun-filled night with your sibs! Aunt Jacque

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  3. Don't let me stand in your way, please don't let me stand in your way. The last thing I want to be remembered as is an annoying blabbermouth... You know, nothing grinds my gears worse than some chowderhead that doesn't know when to keep his big trap shut... If you catch me running off with my mouth, just give me a poke on the chubbs...

    - Del Griffith

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  4. I am thankful for you - and all the other great things that have been such a part of my world this weekend - dishwashers, stoves, washers, dryers, diapers, tubbies, chubbies, comfy chairs and most important: the fam. Glad I got to spend the day with you.

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  5. Wow...you have just become one of my Sheroes! Stay positive and strong!

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  6. love you heather Tuba! Stay Strong. I'm impressed by your fervor! I'd love to come up to Ames and visit with you. Let me know when you're up for it. Love you!

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