Yesterday was my week 3 booster of Bleomycin and the final week of Round 1 of my chemo therapy plan. Knowing that the offices were closed for the 4th of July holiday, they would likely be super busy cramming people in for blood work and their chemo treatments so we checked out of the hotel early to get to Mayo.
I got to the lab and asked them if I needed to still do blood work if I had done it the night before at the ER in St. Mary’s. I wasn’t sure what the expiration window was for that information to be valid. She looked at my records and said there was no order on my chart for blood work so I was free to go to the cancer center. YES! One less poke today!
We got to the cancer center over an hour early from when I needed to be there. I asked the front desk lady if I could talk to someone about my current condition. I’ve had 103 fevers which are being checked by Naproxen and I was told not to take my oral antibiotic by the doctor last night but I’ve been on 4 antibiotics in the last few days.
After half an hour of waiting, she said that the head nurse spoke to Dr. Costello directly and he instructed me to skip chemo today and go home. I was surprised but I wasn’t going to argue. My dad and I figured we’d brainstorm some questions and send it to Dr. Costello’s office later about what to do about my meds and next steps with chemo.
While I obviously want to keep going with my treatment, I was relieved that I didn’t need to spend the next 48 hours like a toxic zombie.
Thursdays in downtown Rochester are called Thursdays on First which is like a street fair with food and live music. Dad and I enjoyed the sunshine and walked up and down the stalls checking things out. There was a jerk chicken stall that looked REALLY good but I can’t take any risks right now.
After spending 6 days indoors in a hospital bed, I welcomed the long walk. My energy levels were good where I could walk at a normal pace but my back hurts from muscle atrophy and eventually I needed to go back inside. We grabbed lunch at the Mayo’s friends and family cafeteria. I got meatloaf, gravy, green beens, and a barley salad for $8 OMG it was so good. I could have eaten another meal.
Since there wasn’t anything left for us to do at Mayo, we headed home. I passed out in the car for over an hour just because the walk tired me out so much.
One of my co workers was wondering how “bad” is my hairloss, so I shot this quick video to share.
I watched 50/50 with my dad last night. For those who haven’t heard of the movie it’s based on Seth Rogen’s friendship with movie writer Will Reiser in real life and his battle with a rare spinal cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the main character. It was fun seeing some of the small stuff that I could relate to but overall the movie really waters down the cancer experience. The main character’s girlfriend buys him a greyhound as a companion while he goes through chemo (I can’t be around my dog), his best friend takes him out to a bar to meet girls after a breakup (can’t risk infection), and he takes the bus to and from chemo (bus germs and way too much energy after chemo). The big climax scene where he shaves his head is kind of too early to do since he never started experiencing hair loss.
Overall it’s a good bromance movie, but it’s hollywood’s take on having cancer. I don’t think I really spoiled anything, especially since it came out in 2011. Maybe I should watch all the cancer movies and just review them. Fault in Our Stars next?
I’m going to be home for the next week and a half until chemo starts up again on 7/16. Just a heads up that I may not be blogging every day, or if I do, they might be shorter posts. I would like people to send me questions that they may have about the experience and I can answer them on the blog. Feel free to ask me anything and I’ll do my best to answer, maybe we’ll all learn something new.
