Where's the caffeine? (Chemo #2 12/11/13 through Chemo #3 12/27/13)

Note: I changed the font of the Post Titles and Post text to 'Arial' since I had a few comments people weren't able to read the blog on other mediums due to the 'Crafty Girls' font. I want people to read this no matter what, so I will choose function over aesthetics

Warning: Chemo Brain is in full effect, if you are not
careful it might strike you down as well

I'm writing this at 3 am in the morning so I definitely would like an
energy drink of some sort. Let's check the last blog date, umm okay, December 3rd. That would be Patti's 'Fear' post and my last one was the day before. I apologize for the long absence between posts. Starting at the beginning of December and 'ending' last week I started overnights so I wouldn't have to take time off from work for when Patti would be suffering from the side effects of chemo. I worked 5 days on and 2 days off and many of the days and especially those 2 days off I was doing things and sleep was sometimes minimal (I went 56 hours without sleeping for one stretch). So the blog got pushed aside for awhile and in the meantime we had Chemo #2 and Chemo #3 with side effects and sicknesses in between; it has been fun. I put the 'ending' in quotes for overnights  because I actually do 3 more starting tonight then back to days, and back to figuring out how to get my sleep schedule in order.

Chemo # 2 was a bitterly cold December 11th at 10 am. We went through the same motions as the first one: I got up early and got us snacks from the gas station; we got Aiden to preschool at 7 am and we got down to the Masonic Cancer Center at 8 am (thank God for the tunnel system). We had our longest stay at the waiting room since we were very early and after the blood tests and we were ushered to the chemo room we had an even longer wait. I don't know who Patti paid to get our chemo room, but it was in the corner; it had a good window view and it was sealed with a rolling door, we could control the temperature of the room because it had its own thermostat and Patti even got a bed. Unfortunately, or fortunately because we had such a plush room, we had to wait for a few hours to get started. Apparently a machine for the blood tests broke and they couldn't read it via technology so they had to view the blood tests and count manually. I don't know what that entails but it really does not sound fun and it made the chemo session a lot longer than it should have been.

The rest of the session went as normal and we were out by 1:30-2 pm. We picked Aiden and I went to bed before my overnight shift and Patti and the little guy veged out to cartoons. 

Ooh a new paragraph already and it has to do with side effects!!!! Patti has been very lucky, she hasn't had many side effects. There's like 5 million that she could get and she's only gotten a few: she gets hot and cold very easily and she gets tired. There wasn't much after the first Chemo session, she got somewhat tired and she got mouth sores which could have been unrelated since she hasn't gotten them since. Coming into the second session she was high spirits after the relatively small effect the first one had on her social and work life. This time the fatigue hit her hard after the 3rd day. 

Picture a person who has way too many activities during the day outside of work. There is always something going on and she's got to do it. She has a perky, energetic attitude and doesn't like to sit still. Now make that person lie in bed, a chair and/or a couch for 4-5 days and not much else.

Would you go crazy? Would you be in a bad mood? 

Welcome to Patti's life. It's actually the first time I've seen Patti be in a bad mood for a protracted amount of time. I wouldn't say depressed; sad or frustrated maybe, but not depressed. I did receive a number of comments about how far I could take my sense of humor or could annoy her which made me back off sometimes stung. Aiden also noticed the change in Mommy but man that boy loves his cartoons and hanging out with mommy. Those 4-5 days were tough on her and even after the energy came back, if she worked a bit too hard or fast, she'd drain pretty quickly so she has to be careful. 

I still get her hair in my mouth from
the pillows on the bed, thanks Patti

At this time Patti came to the realization that her hair was not going to hold out any longer and it was falling out faster than a dog sheds in the spring. So instead of waiting for it to fall out in clumps and in dribs and drabs (I love that saying) she decided to just shave it all off. What's kind of interesting is that she still has some patches of dark hair and patches of white-blonde hair. The dark hair is hair that hasn't fallen out yet and it hurts if you rub it the wrong way. The light hair is the hair that has grown back (you never have a fully smooth head, hair is still growing back throughout chemo) and it doesn't hurt at all. It's kinda weird, but kinda cool and her husband loves experimenting with rubbing the different colored parts of her head, he's weird like that. And while we are on the topic of being bald, here's a Top 10 Reasons Why Chemo Induced Baldness is Awesome.

Before we knew it Christmas was upon us and the weekend right before we had our family celebrations. Saturday was with her family, and I just want to stop here and apologize to her family for not cutting off my grungy beard for their party, my bad.  It was a breakfast Christmas celebration that they usually do on Christmas Day but since her parents were going to California on the 25th, we had it early. It was a great day with family, and for me, after being stressed out from work, it was a great reliever even though I was very tired and kind of kept to myself. 

I got a few hours of sleep before work that day but I believe Aiden and Patti just veged out as well. The next day was Christmas with my family and since it was in the afternoon I got some sleep in the morning. December 26th my Grandma Lois Payne turned 100 and before our Christmas Party my sister Wendy and her family threw a birthday party for her. Unfortunately I pretty much missed it catching up on sleep. It was a fun night at my sister's house seeing the Smiths and the Aronsens, but too soon I had to leave to go to work for my 'last' overnight shift. 

Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas Day saw me back at work during the day (it was definitely a change).  Chemo #3 and the start of Cycle #2 was on Friday. Patti's brother Jerome picked her up and took her to the hospital (THANK YOU!) while I watched Aiden for the morning. His preschool was out for Christmas and spending hours on end at the hospital wouldn't be the best place for him. Patti will be making her own blog about that experience since I was not there. Aiden and I picked her up and we went to Pizza Lucé for a post chemo lunch. Silly Patti brought left overs home and they didn't survive to see Sunday.

Now onto sicknesses!!!!

So Patti has decided to get sick this last month. The first one was around December 8th/9th which was a 24 hour bug that left her low and mostly in the bathroom. Thankfully she gratefully passed that bug onto me causing me to miss my son's December 11th Christmas show. Thanks Patti! More severe came right before Christmas. Patti wanted to really outdo the 24 hour bug by getting Bronchitis. The only good part about that was that she had no voice from it which made the house peaceful (she didn't like my silent jokes either).

Right now she is starting to get tired again, the fatigue seems to be coming on a little bit slower than than last time but it is still starting to build.

To end this I just wanted to thank Patti's coworkers and her bosses for being so understanding and so supportive of her. She works for Be the Match which is somewhat ironic when you come to think about it, but I am so glad she got into this company and that they have seen it in their hearts and in their business sense (haha) to keep her on. Thank you guys so much!

Happy New Years Eve everyone and...ha ha...see you next year!

P.S: Patti should be writing a blog about Chemo #3 soon!