The Last Month of Chemo - Hurray!

Hello and Happy Valentine's Week! I hope you were feeling the love! Let me give you an update on how things are going. This past Thursday, Feb. 14, was both good and bad. Who can say a day is all bad when you come home and your 13 year old son wants to make you heart-shaped pancakes with sprinkles?

So sweet! I also think it's hilarious that I captured Jessie waiting patiently under the table for any "scraps" that might fall her way. What an opportunist! Hans and I had a long day, so it was nice to get home and savor some family time.  Thursdays are always my chemo days, and while I was supposed to get chemo, it didn't work out because my red blood cells were too low. This always means I have to get a transfusion...my 3rd so far.

I was mentally prepared for this one because I keep a close eye on my counts, and knew I would be low. It still is such a bummer though because it means I have to sit in the hospital for about 5 hours for the entire process. What to do? I brought along some research papers to grade while I waited. Not the most fun day I've ever had...but it meant that I could get chemo on Friday, and that was good news. So far, I've never had to miss a week!

Since Hans had to take a whole day off on Thursday, we worked it out so that Sam could take me on Friday. Both he and I had a long weekend off of school, so bless his heart, he got up at 8am and was willing to sit with me through chemo and drive me home. Sorry the picture isn't better. I never take selfies! I feel so blessed to have all my boys taking care of me!

Even though it's just a lot of waiting, Sam was really tired when we got home, and said, "Now, I know how dad feels!" Ahhh...empathy...a good byproduct of a cancer crises.

We were planning on doing something fun in the Cities this weekend, but my doctor scheduled shots to raise my white blood cells in the middle of each day, so I can't really go too far. I'm also getting screened for a potential genetic blood disorder. When they checked my blood to see if I was anemic or had low iron, they results came back the opposite--- I had TOO much iron in my blood. A normal person has less than 50% floating around in there --I had 98%! I tell you what...I'm beginning to think of my body like a haunted house. Egad! Don't look around the corner or you'll find something else that's scary!

For right now, I don't know anything for certain, but I will post about it when I find out and when I finish with all this chemo business! Next stop: Radiation.

Love and light,
Jennifer