You guys, I am okay! Everyone has been checking in and so I wanted to thank you and let you know that I am, in fact, doing well after my second round of chemo. I have some side effects and feel a little tired but honestly, compared to what is outlined in the side-effect list, I have had made it out okay.
Before the chemo started, the patient (moi) got a chance to sit down with the super busy MGH Medical Oncologist for thirty minutes to outline the side effects I noticed during Round 1. He summarily countered each and every thing with either a suggestion for how to pre-empt and hopefully prevent said effect, or a recommendation for a diet change or medication to resolve the side effect immediately. Amazing! He also assured me that the Pu-Pu platter of side effects served to me during Round 1 will likely be my “set” of things to deal with, so there shouldn’t be too many surprises. I am extremely comforted by this and feel prepared to handle these side effects, and get really good doing so.
I also made progress with the stupid Neulasta shot that had to be administered 24 hours after the chemo by taking Tylenol and Claritin (not sure why, but it helps with the side-effect list from THIS drug) early in the day before the scheduled injection. Also, insultingly, the needle must be injected somewhere I can “pinch an inch” so I actually iced my tummy fat for a few minutes before actually getting the shot. And I didn’t cry! Winning!
Chemo itself will likely be a set of (surprisingly good) memories I’ll never forget. I have a set of pals and family members who never fail to entertain and often humiliate me with the hospital staff. When I approach the chemo desk with these people and my giant-ass cold cap cooler and ask for a private room, the staff takes one look at us and gets us the damn private room. This past time I told them, while wearing my cap already, that I was checking in for a perm. They responded that they only do extensions and weaves. Ah, perhaps later.
Each one of my sessions will be a motley crew of my folks, some cold capping snarky remarks, and smelly food that will surely continue to put off the nursing staff. Who turns up the treatment room temp to 80 and then proceeds to order a tuna sandwich and some Anna’s Tacqueria to go? Team Amanda does!!!
With two treatments under my belt, my focus is beginning to shift from recovery/coping to going back to work. My company and team have been amazing during my absence and I’m ready to get back into it in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to short-term disability and vacation time, my paycheck hasn’t taken too much of a hit, but it will soon. Plus, I truly would like to think about something else other than this idiotic cancer detour for once. I’ll continue chemo, taking time off for and after each treatment, and then Ill get back to work when I can. As if things weren’t busy before… the name of this blog, may I remind you, is “I DIDN’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS”, remember?
I’ve started to catalogue some ideas about how to survive…
I didn't have time for this. 
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