Hi Everyone,
Kudos and thanks to you if you're still checking in! I'm so glad you're here. I hope you're having and amazing summer doing lots of things that you like to do.
Where am I in my treatment and how am I doing?
I've finished cycle four and I'm on to cycle five on Wednesday, June 8. Normally, I'm feeling pretty perky by now, but cycle four was the hardest yet and took the longest to recover from. For most cycles, I do pretty well for the first couple of days post infusion, due in large part to the steroids and anti-nausea medications I get during my infusions, and then I start to slide downhill as those medications wear off. This time, I was downhill for a lot longer than previous treatments. Mostly, I was dealing with aches and pains, but I also had an on and off again fever for a couple of days. All in all, more pain, fever and fatigue. It's been harder to maintain my walking and yoga schedule, but I do what I can and try to do at least something everyday. I kind of expect cycle five and six (three weeks from Wednesday), to be challenging, but we have no plans other than to be home and work on some projects around the house as we can. No stress. :)
What I'm doing to stay busy:
Mostly, I continue to craft, although on low energy days I have been more into watching movies and coloring in my fancy coloring books. I'm reading a book called The Philadelphia Chromosome, by Jessica Wapner. It's about the discovery of the cause of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and the development of a treatment for the disease. It's a fascinating read and has some references to follicular lymphoma, which is what I have. I love reading good science books in my spare time. I also spent some time scrappbooking with Karen Chandler, who's my scrapping buddy. You can see that I'm mostly keeping it low-key. This coming week, Bob and I will start putting stacked stone on the little retaining wall that Bob built in our back yard. My job is to lay the stone out in a nice pattern. I think I'm up to that. Our plan is to do that for a little while early each morning, before it starts getting hot. It really doesn't matter how long it takes us to finish, as there is no rush. We're also planning a trip to Bob's family get together in Southern California at the end of July. I should be back on my feet and able to travel comfortably by then, so it is something really nice to look forward to. We love to travel in the summer, but of course, we have had to stay at home for quite some time now, so we're enjoying the planning.
What are you doing this summer? If you feel like sharing, please feel free. I'd love to hear what you're up to. Also, here is a link to my recommended science reading list. Most of these are books I've read, so if you want to know more, you can email me for more info. If I haven't read a particular book, it's one I want to read, so I can tell you why I think it's a good book. Anyway, for those who are interested, these are titles you'll probably enjoy.
Smiles,
Rose
Kudos and thanks to you if you're still checking in! I'm so glad you're here. I hope you're having and amazing summer doing lots of things that you like to do.
Where am I in my treatment and how am I doing?
I've finished cycle four and I'm on to cycle five on Wednesday, June 8. Normally, I'm feeling pretty perky by now, but cycle four was the hardest yet and took the longest to recover from. For most cycles, I do pretty well for the first couple of days post infusion, due in large part to the steroids and anti-nausea medications I get during my infusions, and then I start to slide downhill as those medications wear off. This time, I was downhill for a lot longer than previous treatments. Mostly, I was dealing with aches and pains, but I also had an on and off again fever for a couple of days. All in all, more pain, fever and fatigue. It's been harder to maintain my walking and yoga schedule, but I do what I can and try to do at least something everyday. I kind of expect cycle five and six (three weeks from Wednesday), to be challenging, but we have no plans other than to be home and work on some projects around the house as we can. No stress. :)
What I'm doing to stay busy:
Mostly, I continue to craft, although on low energy days I have been more into watching movies and coloring in my fancy coloring books. I'm reading a book called The Philadelphia Chromosome, by Jessica Wapner. It's about the discovery of the cause of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and the development of a treatment for the disease. It's a fascinating read and has some references to follicular lymphoma, which is what I have. I love reading good science books in my spare time. I also spent some time scrappbooking with Karen Chandler, who's my scrapping buddy. You can see that I'm mostly keeping it low-key. This coming week, Bob and I will start putting stacked stone on the little retaining wall that Bob built in our back yard. My job is to lay the stone out in a nice pattern. I think I'm up to that. Our plan is to do that for a little while early each morning, before it starts getting hot. It really doesn't matter how long it takes us to finish, as there is no rush. We're also planning a trip to Bob's family get together in Southern California at the end of July. I should be back on my feet and able to travel comfortably by then, so it is something really nice to look forward to. We love to travel in the summer, but of course, we have had to stay at home for quite some time now, so we're enjoying the planning.
What are you doing this summer? If you feel like sharing, please feel free. I'd love to hear what you're up to. Also, here is a link to my recommended science reading list. Most of these are books I've read, so if you want to know more, you can email me for more info. If I haven't read a particular book, it's one I want to read, so I can tell you why I think it's a good book. Anyway, for those who are interested, these are titles you'll probably enjoy.
Smiles,
Rose