Chemo, week 6
| Hair Situation | Pretty darn thin. I can comb it back, without a part, and you don’t really see the bald patches, but then I look like Fonzie. I’m into serious hats now. |
| Weight | Down 6 from normal |
| Symptoms | Fatigue, heartburn |
Tuesday, 4/1/03: Happy April Fool’s Day! Today’s appointment, except for the Groucho glasses, was boringly routine. My red blood count is still low enough that I needed a shot to boost it, and my white count, while low, is what they’d expect after last week’s nasty drugs. And since it’s been more than 6 hours since the chemo, I’m safe in saying “no chills this week!”.
Starting tomorrow, my Prednisone dose ramps down from 70 mg every two days, to 60, then 50, etc., until I’m not taking it any more. It’s the beginning of the end!
Oh, and the Groucho glasses. Building on a tradition begun at my wedding, my dad provided Groucho glasses for the doctors and nurses today. We wore them when Dr. Ekstrand came into the examining room. That guy has a great poker face! We got him and Sheila to wear theirs, but the nurses in the infusion center laughed and put theirs away.
Thursday, 4/3/03: Heartburn! I woke up this morning at 5, too uncomfortable to lie down. I took a Tums and tried to doze half-upright on the couch (at least until Emmy woke up wanting to watch Dora the Explorer). I’m trying to remember my two liters to drink per day, so today I had a big cup of tea, and I had some chocolate cookies this afternoon. By dinnertime, I was so uncomfortable that I called the doctor, who said (1) take Tums, (2) sleep on an angle, and (3) did you know that caffeine makes heartburn worse? Well, I do now!