“The Routine”
Today started out pretty well. Had my energy back, despite only getting about two hours of sleep overnight. Being a huge creature of habit, my typical daily routine seems to have evened out to:
4:00 am – vital signs (generally don’t go back to sleep, just doze a bit)
7:00 am – try to pull myself out of the sleepy haze
7:15 am – shift change, night nurse gives report to the day nurse (they actually do this in my room at bedside, so that I can hear and add comments if needed. Fantastic practice, makes me feel like I really am involved in my own treatment plan)
7:30 am – Facetime with the kiddos (video phone call). Highlight of my day. Get to catch up on the boys’ lives, Liam gives me his soulful brown-eyed gaze that melts me to pieces, Gavin runs around the house with the phone making me dizzy… and Justine and Bella (the cats) sometimes make an appearance.
7:45 am – order breakfast
7:50 am – get my butt out of bed, hop on the scale, and put my workout clothes on. Get on the bike for 30 minutes.
8:30 am – sponge bath, wash hair, get dressed and go make myself comfy on the sofa in my room to eat breakfast while catching up on email etc.
Sometime between 9:00 and 11:00 – My oncology team makes their rounds. The examine me, check my vitals, ask me questions about new symptoms, fall victim to my humor, and answer my daily dozen questions. 😉
My husband usually visits during the same time frame, bringing my clean clothes from home. 🙂
12:30 pm – eat lunch and then head to bed to rest a bit while working or blogging for the afternoon.
4:00 -6:00 pm – visits from mom, and sometimes my husband will bring the kids up.
A Minor Glitch in the Matrix
Honestly, other than the nausea really settling in today, I haven’t had too many complaints. But as the afternoon wore on, my energy level started to drop a bit, and a nagging sharp pain developed in my lungs when I breathe. So I told my nurse when they were giving report at shift change, and they immediately had my oncologist come in (Dr. Alex, the poor guy!). After listening to heart and lungs, he ordered an EKG to rule out heart issues and a CT scan of my lungs to rule out a PE (pulmonary embolism). I have a history of PE, due to a genetic clotting factor. The EKG was clear (I had no doubt), so now I am waiting to go for the CT scan.
A Little Good News 🙂
10:14 pm – my nurse has just hung bag number 6 out of 7 of my chemotherapy! That means just bags 6 and 7 remain. So by this time on Saturday night . . . I will be done with induction therapy. And then the rebuilding begins.
Song of the day: Lyra by Kate Bush
The Road Less Traveled 
Only 1 bag of chemo left. Then u can get this taste buds back and get healthy on some good food (snuck in naturally).
Keep it up. Do u get to bring the bike home?
Good morning…oops afternoon! How’d the CT scan come out? You are doing so well Tammy. Your routine is more disciplined than mine! Keep up the good work. I’m so glad you are having video calls with the boys! Love you.