Reached the Chemo Halfway Mark

Entry 77 

Good morning everyone.

I’m currently in the 5th chemotherapy treatment at Grace Hospital. We are at the halfway mark for the 10 treatments over 30 weeks. 

The clinic is not busy this morning. I was in and hooked up to IV quickly. I barely got into my stand up comedy routine for the other victims in the waiting room. I thought I heard an audible sigh of relief when my name was called and I was ushered out to the chemo chairs. Something about don’t quit your day job. So it sounds as if someone thinks I still look young enough to work. That’s surprising to me because I’m down >15 lbs and my skin is all wrinkled. Looks like I could use a good ironing. 

Chemotherapy takes about 2 hours and as usual the staff are professional and courteous. I feel fine and happily there is no pain in my left leg and hip. 

Through persistent experimenting I have the morphine down to 2 doses, one for the day and one for the night. It’s a very low dosage but nevertheless it’s an opioid. One of the knock-on side effects of a potent pain killer is constipation. I have learned to use Senokot-S in tandem with the morphine and have worked out a compatible combination. Feeling a lot better. 

My Oncologist was away this week so I had a telephone appointment with his Nurse Practitioner. That’s the first time I have spoken with one. We were very impressed. Tamara helped us work out a new plan to deal with the issues I was having that knocked me for a loop in the previous treatment. Hopefully it will add to the tool kit to get around the next tough stretch. The only way out is through. 

Finally and once again my sincerest thanks to Margaret and Tom for their non stop help. I simply can’t imagine what it would be like to try to navigate this if a person were on their own. I hope this does not sound like whining. It’s not and I’m sure it’s no different than anyone who has experienced chemotherapy. It’s a very humbling experience. 

I sold my Chestnut Cruiser wood canvas canoe last week. I was surprised by the amount of interest it generated. It gave me the option to pick and choose the buyer. Paramount was that it had a good home. Shed a few tears. I had some outstanding solo trips (some as long as 2 weeks) and I just loved the way it handled. It just got too heavy for me to carry as I aged. Closed another chapter.