Chemo Session #3

I have been trying to make the best of these 

treatments by amusing myself with different themed shirts:

• Session 1 - Team Knaup
• Session 2 - Super Woman 
• Session 3 - Rosie Riveter

It seems to amuse the staff at the infusion center as well!  I even made my doctor smile.  Speaking of the doctor, he was at the infusion center on Monday and came by to check on me!  

Session 3 was easier on my body than Session 2.  The lupus side of things seemed to stay pretty calm.  I did however have more issues with my heart.  It is under a lot of strain. But the doctor believes once we can get my kidneys to do their job again, the strain on my heart will become significantly less and it should be fine.  

The nurse who is assigned to administer the chemo has to fully protect themselves before they can hook up the drugs.  And my nurse this week was so cool and cooperative, she let me take her picture in full "smurf" gear.  She says its because they handle these toxic poisons all day long its to help reduce their exposure to it.  Which makes complete sense!

Isn't she the cutest?!

So yeah, she gets herself all protected, then that toxic poison, goes straight into my body. 

Which kind of makes you go?!??!?

Hmmmmm....

If she's protecting herself that much from exposure to this drug, 

no wonder my body hates it!

Near the end of my session, my doctor stopped back by to go over the labs that were drawn earlier that day.  

He said the good news is, things are not getting worse.  

However, things are not progressing like he thought they should be either.  

So, he said lets stay the course for now, see how things look after the next session and if we need to, we can make some changes.  Basically, trust the process.  He's hopeful and so are we. 

Aside from the heart issue, and the usual lupus complaints, the only thing I have noticed this week more than before is the level of fatigue.  My energy level has gone from low to moderate to almost non-existent.   

Every day tasks seem so exhausting, especially going up or down the stairs in my house.  Once I've managed to get myself down stairs in the morning, I do not go back up until it's time for bed. Even taking a shower, fixing lunch, cleaning up, everything has been getting harder and harder to do.  Thankfully, our Nanny was here because I could not have watched the girls by myself while Brian was at work.  It would have been too much.  

Speaking of the girls! Emma has been begging to use the fire pit in our backyard.  With the help of my cousin who lives near us and the Nanny, they put together an impromptu cookout for us!  Emma and Brooklyn were in heaven!

They roasted hot dogs for dinner and s'mores for dessert!  Emma told ghost stories, Brooklyn relaxed in her camping chair, everyone had a great time!

Brooklyn discovered she LOVES marshmallows!  

And she loves sneaking chips to Nala off the table!  Caught her red-handed and she didn't even care. LoL  Nala is such a great dog, so patient and gentle, especially around Brooklyn.  My cousin has done an amazing job training her.  Our girls love it when she comes over to play. 

I can not even tell you how good it felt to just sit outside by the fire pit and BE with the family.  

For those few hours, I was able to forget about everything else going on.

And that was very good for my soul.

I definitely feel blessed.

Thank you all for sharing my blog last week!  That post was seen by people in 10 other countries besides the United States!  The amount of awareness raised for taking Plaquenil was more than I could have ever imagined!  You all made that happen!  Thank you!

And thank you for all the prayers, emails, cards and care packages (the doctor scrubs for the girls were a HUGE hit! Thank you!!!) being sent our way!  I love getting the cards!!!  I add each one to my lupus journal, which is going to need a new binding before long, because of how thick it's getting! You guys are the best!

Going to take the next week very easy, regain as much strength as I can, and get ready for whatever the next round of chemo has in store for me.  

Thank you for checking in. Thank you for your prayers.  

Thank you for all your love and support! 

I hope you all have a great week!

xoxo

Bev