COAP- Cycle 1

I have now had both infusions of my chemo, but I am still taking my prednisone until day 14, or 15 since I started a day late.

When I got home from my first infusion, on Valentine's, I just felt kind of drugged...high...kind of out of it.  It was a strange feeling to say the least.  That night, for some reason, I stayed up doing random searches on the computer.  I think I was trying to plan the wedding I still want to have. :) (I blame this on Sara for making me look at bridesmaid dresses.)  I also discovered that the girls Valentine's bouquet had both of their birth month flowers (not on purpose), so then I had to find out what the husband's and mine looked like when combined with the girls.  Just random, strange stuff...I think those drugs really gave me some kind of high.

For the next few days, I continued to have a kind of lightheaded, off-balance sort of feeling.  It is kind of hard to explain.  I took my temperature, since I had been having fevers previously, but they stopped.  Actually my temperature was low..like 96-97, but I felt fine.  The night sweats pretty much stopped also.  I still sweat, or maybe drain, at night, but not bad.  I am not waking up soaked, and the sheets don't really get wet at all. 

The large lump that I had under my underarm started going down right away, I think.  It is almost non-existent now, which I think is awesome considering it was the size of a walnut.  The doctor said the lump, or possibly multiple lumps, were blocking my lymphatic drainage because I was having strange swelling, or retention, on my left side.  As the lump has disappeared, so has this strange swelling. Yay!  Also, my rash, which the doctor doesn't believe is from my cancer, but I always get with my cancer, is gone.  My skin is nice and smooth again!

I was finally starting to feel right in the head again, then it was Thursday again, and time for another chemo. The second infusion didn't seem to make me as crazy.  I still felt pretty normal.  At least, until last night. At about 4:30, I smelt something that made me crave Chinese food.  I came downstairs and googled recipes for fried rice and teriyaki sauce and started cooking.  I was finished making, and even eating a little after 6, which is really strange for me.  I didn't get distracted...I was very focused on making that food.  And, it was delicious..at least it was exactly what I wanted. Yum!  I think the girls were a bit confused because we don't normally eat that early, but...

I am still trying to eat good, but it is harder.  Maybe it is the steroids, or whatever else they give me, but sometimes I just crave food and have to eat then. I guess I need to stock up on healthier snacks again.  I seem to be losing a little bit more weight, possibly because of the cancer or the treatment.  It is hard to tell you when I lost it because my scale at home hasn't been working, but when they weighed me on Thursday I was down to 138.  (Before diet I was weighing 170-175 and with diet I had gotten down to about 145.)

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.