Update

It's been 8 days since I had my second dose of chemotherapy and this cycle has been mostly predictable, which is a good thing.  The first week was rough as expected but I'm feeling much better today.  If the rest of the cycle follows suit, I'll feel good this week followed by a dip in energy early next week and then feeling decent by the time round 3 comes.  Good day or bad, I start each day by thanking God for all of the blessings in my life (of which there are many) and that sets the tone for the day.

Tiffany's sister Pascha was also in town to visit this past week.  It was nice to see her and I'm grateful that she spent time praying for my healing. 

I did have one issue last week where I felt like my heart was pounding and beating irregularly.  I woke up in the middle of the first night after chemo with a gasp and my heart was beating hard.  I fell back asleep but over the next couple of days it would come and go, especially when I was lying down.   On Friday morning, I decided ("was convinced") to call the doctor and they asked me to come in to get checked out.  I ended up spending most of the day there and at the hospital getting blood work, a chest x-ray, an EKG and an echocardiogram.  Everything came back fine, so they assume it was just the prednisone messing with me and to keep an eye on it.  I felt better by the end of the weekend, so I guess it's another one of the side effects during the first week I'll have to deal with.  

I mentioned in the last post that my hair was starting to fall out and that has been slowly continuing.  It's also still growing, but in a weird and splotchy way, so I have to keep shaving my face and head.

I may keep the shaved head after this is all over

One thing I've been noticing more this time around is the mental/ emotional effect of the chemo and/ or the other drugs I'm taking.  It's difficult to put into words, but in addition to the physical sickness I have the first week after chemo, there's definitely something else chemically or hormonally going on.  I feel emotionally "flat" for lack of a better term.  I'm not sad or depressed because I know in my mind that I have nothing to be sad or depressed about, but it's a very bland feeling where I don't feel happy and things that I know usually make me feel good don't.  Mentally I'm still in a good place and I know I am happy, but I don't feel happy.  It's like the feelings are blocked until about day 7 or 8.  So in addition to feeling better physically, it's such a relief to get back to normal emotionally after the first week.  I  know that one of my anti-nausea drugs is a serotonin blocker and another is a dopamine blocker, which are both "feel good" chemicals, but it usually lasts a few days after I stop taking those.  Whatever it is, I have a newfound empathy for people who suffer from depression.  It's a strange and unpleasant feeling when your mind and emotions are off like that. 

That's all for now.  33% done with the hard part, but who's counting...