I can happily report that round two went much better than round one. We made three changes to my med combo on treatment day. First, I took my main nausea med the morning of, rather than the night before. They changed my IV nausea med to a different drug, and they reduced the amount of steroids I got in my IV. The headache was much better this time around, as well. Got ‘er done!

The changes made a big difference in how I felt on Day 1. Almost as soon as they started my IV that morning, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and ended up sleeping through most of my treatment. This is not an easy feat to do in a treatment room…the one I’m at is a large open room with 18 chairs in it. People happily chat, the windows allow a lot of sunlight in, and the nurses are just the liveliest bunch you’ll ever meet. But as my husband can attest, I can fall asleep almost instantly given the right circumstances…and apparently a dose of Olanzapine and Kytril is just what I need to sleep through the hustle and bustle of a busy infusion room.

We grabbed some lunch on the way home, and I was felt good enough to get online and work the remainder of the day. I slept pretty well that night and woke on Day 2 feeling pretty good. But taking the Olanzapine in the morning just knocks me back out, so I slept a good portion of the day away. When I was awake, I realized the headache was trying to creep back in. So, I took the migraine med and slept some more. Thank God for meds! I was beginning to think the Olanzapine may be a trigger for the headache I kept getting. So, like a good patient (NOT), I didn’t take the Olanzapine the last two days…I downshifted to a lower nausea med. Day 3 (Friday) was pretty quiet. I didn’t necessarily feel bad, but I definitely didn’t feel good. (If you know what I mean.) I couldn’t really focus on much. Day 4 (Saturday) was harder than I expected it to be. I felt Meh, with a capital M – E- H apostrophe!! But Sara has been talking about getting her nails done for Easter for the past month, and the good Lord knows I needed someone to attend to my toes. So, we went to the nail salon, mask on, and got prettied up. And that wiped me out!

Sunday was a new day! I have always loved Sundays, but I really really love Sundays now. That seems to be the day that I bounce back from treatment. We got up and went to church for Easter service. I whipped my mask off long enough for a quick family pic, and then enjoyed the service like a good patient…with my mask on. Clint and Sara went to the family Easter dinner and egg hunt, and I stayed home. Although, I know my Uncle Scott missed me the most…he even sent me a pic of how much he missed me being there to share my Granny’s famous chocolate pie.

I almost forgot to mention my hair! I have a lot of hair…I mean A LOT. But on Saturday morning I started to experience some “light shedding” which eventually led to “heavy shedding”. Imagine what your hands would look like if you were to pet a wet St Bernard in the middle of summer! Well, that’s what I looked like in the shower, after the shower, when I was trying to fix my hair for church. It just kept getting thinner and thinner by the hour. Not to mention, my hair literally hurt every time I touched it. So, we decided to take the plunge and take it off. Sara wanted to shave it and give me a mo hawk, so we had some fun with it before going full on Sinead O’Connor.

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People have been asking me how it feels to lose my hair. Here’s the thing…it’s just hair. It’s not that important to me. For some people, it’s a very emotional experience…I get it. For me, it means getting 30+ minutes back in my day every morning for the time being. Silver linings, right? It will grow back…it may be curly or frizzy or gray or whatever…but it will grow back. I do have a wig to wear to work and other “official” places, but I definitely won’t be wearing it daily. Hello…Summer in Texas! Although, it is kinda fun to have so many different looks available…so there’s that. 🙂

All in all, round 2 was better than round 1. It seems like Wednesday through Saturday, I’m just going to either be sleeping or feeling meh. And then Sunday happens, and I start feeling back to normal. Two more to go! Then we move to a weekly Taxol treatment. <Sigh…yes, another change in my treatment plan.> I was supposed to do 4 dose dense treatments every three weeks, but they changed me to weekly treatments for 12 weeks. There goes any chance at a vacation this summer! That will carry us from the very begging to the very end of summer. Bleh! The doctor did say that since it’s weekly, the doses are smaller and the side effects are less noticeable. Crossing my fingers and staying strong! More to come.

Proverbs 31:25