Chemo, week 4
| Hair Situation | Noticeably thinner |
| Weight | Down 8 from normal |
| Symptoms | Sore throat, arm downgraded from sore to tender. Appetite improving somewhat. Some tingling in my toes. |
Tuesday, 3/18/03: Another day, another needle. Today was my regular chemo appointment. The good news is, the Neupogen worked. My white blood cell count is firmly back in the normal range. The bad news is, my red count is down, meaning, of course, another shot. This one will be given weekly, by a nurse, so I’m strangely happy about it. Also, I can have a little more contact with my fellow human beings, because the risk of infection is lower now.
Beyond the red count, everything else is exactly as planned. It’s been almost 5 hours since the chemo ended, and there’s no sign of the fever or chills that can accompany the even weeks’ drugs.
One thing I forgot to mention about the radiation: I’m going to have tattoos to help the doctors position the machines. During the radiation, the tattoos will just be small dots. But afterwards, if I’m going to have tattoos anyway, I might as well turn them into something fun. So it’s time for a vote: what should I get? The choices are: (1) flowers, (2) stars, (3) Grateful Dead bear, (4) connect-the-dots of the tattoos and call it a new constellation.
Wednesday, 3/19/03: Talk about speaking too soon! I’d just logged off last night when I started to feel a slight chill. 15 minutes later, I was under three blankets and a towel warmed up in the dryer, shivering and teeth chattering, while Mom fed me spoonfuls of hot tea. 15 minutes after that, Mom was on the phone with Stanford, saying, “We knew about the chills and fever, but is she supposed to have pains in her rib cage and trouble swallowing?” I took some Tylenol and Benadryl, which got the chills under control and put me to sleep. When I woke up, I had a fever of 101, so I took some Motrin, had a few glasses of water, and went to bed. This morning, I’m fully recovered - in fact, I slept better than I have in a few weeks!
Thursday, 3/20/03: Today was haircut day! I was tired of having hair come out when I shower, comb my hair, etc., so it was time to chop it off. Here’s a picture. 