3 down....9 to go....

Meet
"Portia"
I think she and I will be good friends. The poke of the needle was a little surprising and I'm sure some large coating of Emla will fix that small problem. We had good blood return right away and the drugs were delivered with no technical issues.

Unfortunately Miss Portia didn't help me tolerate the Dirty Dacarbazine. It didn't hurt going in, but we had to slow it down to drip over an hour and a half due to nausea. That means my treatments, for the time being anyway, will be more like 3 hours long.

*Note Barbie bandaid covering up little baby stitches in my neck.

Meet Norma


Ron's Mom accompanied me to this week's chemo session. We had some awesome nurses and everyone was really chatty and fun. It was more like a coffee date than a chemo date! We also met a nice woman who was having an experimental treatment post-breast cancer. She was very encouraging, especially when she told me that Hodgkin's was the best cancer to have. CHOKE! So sick of that comment!! She meant well though...it's just that, well, I still have to have chemo! In fact, Hodgkin's patients have pretty nasty chemo (and some patients have radiation as well). It's a long treatment and not a heck of a lot of fun but yes, it at least can be "curable"

Meet Emira


She's my feline companion through treatment. Notice how she "hugs" my arm? We spend countless hours in bed together and I think we both really enjoy it! She seems to sense when I need her with me and I am really so happy to have her companionship right now.

So, that's where I'm at this week. I feel pretty good but very exhausted. I started taking some heavy duty sleeping pills last Friday (just for 3 days) to see if I could get some rest. One of the nights I got a phenomenal rest, the other two not so much. I have some trouble falling asleep and then I have difficult remaining asleep (often waking up ~6 times per night). If I can get this under control, I'm sure I'll feel a bit more like my old self. Also, I am still learning what my body can handle and when to put myself in a "time out". Other than that, I am feeling ok really. And I have a great post-chemo glow. It's bizzarre, but my cheeks and chest get quite pinky for a few days after treatment. It makes me feel like I can get away without any make-up (love that!). Oh and on the hair front, I think I pulled (while washing my hair and rinsing) the most hair that has come out at one time today. It was a bit freaky but also addictive, like I couldn't stop running my fingers through my hair to see what would come out each time. I know, I'm twisted.