Picard gets another refill.

In about three days I will be half way through my first nine weeks of chemo.  So far it has gone better than I ever dreamed.

Perhaps dream is the wrong word, unless it’s dream as in nightmare.  But as nightmares go, this one has gone really well.

We went in today to have Picard refilled.  I mentioned to Joanne, the nurse practitioner, that compared to the dreadful stories of possible side effects that I’d heard my impression was that I am doing quite well.

She agreed.  She even went so far as to say she thought my treatment is going “extremely well”.  It would seem my progress is going much more smoothly than what she usually encounters.

That was a real morale booster.

Though the super duper chemo treatments are challenging, my body is handling them with minimal side effects.  The primary problem is the chemo leaves me very dehydrated.  This requires that I get lots of IV fluids.

From now on when I have the super duper treatments I’m going to get IV fluids two days after the treatment, then again two days after that.  This should minimize the side effects even more.

Which certainly works for me.

Dr. Ey had mentioned previously that the way my body reacts to the treatments now will probably be consistent with how it will react later on.  So if I can get the side effects under control now, they’ll probably remain under control from now on.

Or at least that’s what we’re hoping.

Another piece of good news is the $5999.99 shot worked!  My white blood cell count shot up by a huge margin.  I’m probably immune, for the time being, to any virus crossing my path.

This will come in handy if aliens from outer space infect Earth with a deadly virus.  Not only will I have the white blood cells to fight off the virus, but will also have the prior authorization from my insurance company to get another planet saving shot.

This means that I’m destined to be a super hero.  Of course that depends on aliens infecting earth with a deadly virus, which might not happen.  But you never know.

I was extremely pleased my symptoms following the super duper chemo treatment were mild enough to allow me to enjoy our annual July 4th Pot Luck.

This was made possible by Ed, Lisa, Nancy, and Linda volunteering to help set it up and clean up afterwards.  Though I felt well enough to attend, I totally lacked the energy to do more than that.

I spent the morning resting, took a hit of caffeine before the party, and collapsed afterwards.  But I was able to attend and have a fantastic time.  It is so wonderful to have good friends than come through in a pinch.

We are eternally grateful to our friends for making it possible to continue this holiday tradition.

Thank you.