Transition time

Well next week is my last week before radiation..... I'm feeling well, energy's good (back on Thursday or Friday I'd say.) HOwever, lots of gas and bloating this time. Alan really thinks it's chemo related -- it ate the intestinal flora, is his theory. COurse I take acidophilus.... and eat yogurt, but I guess it is just going to take time.

Looks like no chemo vein burn though! I will have to make sure the nurses know that what they did last time worked. I think so many patients have ports (surgical openings up in their chests to receive chemo more directly) that they didn't realize...... I still have burn marks from the chemo 7.5 weeks ago and 4.5 weeks ago -- the earlier one is the worse of the two, and still uglier. However, from 1.5 weeks ago looks great, though it itches a little. Last time the nurse gave me saline "next to" the taxotere, which means at the same time. The line had a little divider, and a bag of saline went into one side and the bag of taxotere into the other. Two bags of saline accompanied the taxotere and then another extra bag dripped in after the whole thing was done. That was last time -- and that was what was needed. The time before that there was only the extra bag after, and the burn is maybe 1/3 the size of the burn from 7.5 weeks ago. Don't know why the first taxotere didn't leave a burn mark -- luck? Or maybe the first nurse did somehting -- I didn't know to worry about it then.

I bike back there tomorrow -- same building, but to see my eye doctor -- to make sure my pressures are still okay despite all the steroids. I want to get off of the xalatan (eye med I started to keep pressures controlled during steroids) but my eye doc wants to leave me on it because my pressures are so nice and low with it. It's tempting. I will keep using it through winter -- because I always get spikes in winter. (Maybe because I exercise less -- the weather makes biking iffy, and the days I don't bike I work out for just an hour..... which is fine, but not really comparable to a 3 hour bikeride.) Also I'm more tired in winter I think, and tend to do more caffeine. I noticed it this winter -- and this time I do have the chemo thing going on -- but I think a lot of it is actually seasonal and seems familiar.

I'm lucky the weather was warm today (broke 50) so the ice has mostly thawed -- so biking should work. It might rain..... I'll bring the hurricane jacket in case it does. OH and ALan's sunglasses if he remembers to find them for me. I have to get dilated -- and get this..... there used to be these great reversal drops I used to use after I got dilated, so I could get my pupils back to normal for the ride home and the afternoon/evening with the kids. WELL they stopped making them. They stopped making them because they make no money! I would buy my own bottle happily and bring it to dilation appointments...... but that option apparently doens't exist either. Now there's a failure of the free market/capitalist health care system..... Last time I got dilated the production had stopped already and my eye doctor had saved some -- but it was his last bottle..... that was a year ago. SO tomorrow will be my first time coming home without these drops. One more thing to worry about.

And after that -- I have to think what to do next. I have to say I'm getting bored. Probably it's because I couldn't bike last week...... but I'm starting to think it's time to start taking jobs again..... Let's hope that does it. I'd like to start working on doing some more challenging interpreting -- but do I have time....?