Figured I should get last week’s info posted before Jenna and I leave today for the last treatment of round 2. Last week we had the great pleasure (not!) of driving through weather once again. Had a very exciting start by getting stuck in a snow bank as we made the first turn off of our hill. Fortunately some very kind folks stopped and got us pushed out. The weather reports sounded like once we got south of Roanoke, we would lose the snow and perhaps have just rain. The rest of the drive was nicely uneventful.
We arrived at Leila’s and enjoyed a girls night with both Maura and Michele. For the non family folks reading this, Michele is Leila’s daughter who lives in Atlanta. She had been in town spending the weekend with girlfriends and stayed on to hang out with us and be my chemo buddy. We all got to chat, eat Thai food and pet Jett when she’d let us. I was the party pooper who went to bed early since I’d been much more tired this past week.
Michele and I headed to Duke for labs and chemo. Turns out the nurses were not very pleased to realize I’d lost almost 10 pounds since starting there. I am a bit happy to be 10 pounds lighter however the doc has been preaching all along that this is not the time to be losing weight. While I’m in the treatment room, the nutritionist comes to pay me a visit. Good thing Michele is there to help ask questions and take notes. I had been given Benadryl prior to the TH302/stealth bomber due to the rash I had for a day or two after the prior treatment. Between the Benadryl and increased fatigue, it was a challenge to keep my eyes open and process all the new info. Lots of good suggestions re: foods, more frequent eating, supplements, shakes, smoothies, protein counts and lofty calorie goals. I’m going to have my work cut out for me!
After all the treatments, Jenna and I head home and are amazed to spend some time driving on dry roads, under blue sky. She was able to shop before picking me up so we have some new foods to try this week. We spend time discussing plans for changing and adding to my diet.
As the week progressed, it seems like the food changes helped. I’m not as fatigued and feel a bit better than the prior week despite ongoing nausea and belly upset. It is a challenge to think about taking in more calories, preparing higher calorie meals and adding in desserts. Sure would be nice if the reason for this was something more pleasant than chemo!
