Post chemo #2

Well, Pinup Barber and I got up at crack-30 and drove to St. Louis Monday morning for my second chemo. She wanted me to point out that I was the one running late, not her! Touche! I actually planned the trip so that we had plenty of extra time in case one of us was running late or we had car trouble or something. If you know either of us you'd expect BOTH of us to be running late! So the fact that I was able to send DH a text message at 5:45 telling him we were about to get on I-44 after gassing up at Kearney was really miraculous. We were running only 30 minutes or so behind.

We got there pretty uneventfully, got checked in, I had my labs drawn, waited for the doctor, waited to start my chemo...pretty typical visit, I would assume. This time I had my Emend before my chemo instead of the day after and I think it made a difference, maybe not during the chemo but in the days after. I suppose it always helps to be able to take your meds as you are supposed to. So props to BFF for getting me hooked up!!

I think this time was easier just because I'd done it before, so I kind of knew what to expect. My labs looked good and my liver functions are still going back down to the normal range. Amazingly, my hemoglobin is really good. Strange for someone who's normal anemic, especially since I haven't been taking any extra iron since I started chemo. Unfortunately they were super busy so once again my chemo started late and therefore we finished late! But they stuck me in the corner chair so I didn't have to talk to anyone except the nurse and Pinup Barber.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not asocial by any means, but after that annoying bitch we were stuck beside for HOURS last time (the wife, not the patient) I really didn't even want to make eye contact with anyone, much less small talk. I swear, that chick dogged every single person she'd ever encountered at both hospitals in Springfield with the exception of one person she bragged on. I've worked at both hospitals and I know there are both good and bad doctors and nurses but I would say 99% of them are doing the best they can 99% of the time. Monday morning armchair quarterbacking is much easier than being in the situation where someone is declining and you have to take care of it. I know as a nurse I had more than one occasion where I was having to put pressure on a physician to either give appropriate orders or to come see a patient himself. And there were times I did something without an order first and told the physician later or refused to do an inappropriate order. It's a stressful position to be in, one that I'm not missing at all right now. And let me tell you, as bitter as I'm feeling toward one hospital in Springfield now and as disenchanted as I felt with the other one when I quit, I still did not appreciate hearing such bad things. And I certainly don't want anyone to think the reason I went to Siteman and Barnes is because I think the hospitals in Springfield are inferior. I've probably said this before, but if I was 20 or 30 years older dealing with breast cancer, I'd have probably sought treatment locally. But I didn't want to be my surgeon and oncologist's only "young" patient. Plus I'm super vain and I want my post boob job to be the best and the plastic surgeons in St. Louis are doing some techniques that they're not doing yet in Southwest Missouri. And since I'm in the strangely fortunate position to be able to choose, I chose the best I could.

Wow, that was a big digression from chemo number two. OK back to the story, let's see, where were we? Oh, yeah, we were smart this time and went and got food. I had a Panera gift card and there so happens to be one (well, technically St. Louis Bread Company since we were in St. Louis but if you Google St. Louis Bread Company it directs you to Panera) across from Siteman so we went online and looked at the menu and got the number and ordered our food and Pinup Barber went and picked it up. And we had WAY too much food!! I've really only eaten catered in box lunches and bagels from Panera, (except for the time DH and I went there for breakfast and had those amazing quiches) so I had no idea how big the entrees were. I had a huge salad and she had a huge sandwich and we both had huge bowls of soup. We could have split either the sandwich or the salad and had a bowl of soup with it and still had leftovers! Oh well, it turned out OK because we were there for so long we got hungry again and ended up eating everything except half a sandwich.

I'd been talking to Kondee's Mom off and on and we were trying to figure out how we were going to get together. She only lives two hours away but she'd gotten back from working all weekend at 10 PM the night before and wasn't really wanting to drive back to St. Louis. Can't say that I blame her. So we decided to meet up for dinner in Ste. Genevieve, this very cute river town about halfway between her and us. So as we're making our plans and I'm looking at the time and I'm thinking we'll have time to get down there before it gets dark and we can poke around in some shops and stuff...um, no! Instead, after my chemo was over they sent me to a class about chemo! WTF! I've had two treatments already! I should have had this class last time. Halfway through, what's the point? So I got to listen to a nurse drone on for 45 minutes about stuff I either already knew or I didn't really care about. And I didn't get to do any shopping in Ste. Genevieve! By the time we got out of Siteman and I found the hotel (for some reason I assumed the Hampton Inn at Forest Park would be on Forest Park Blvd) and we got checked in and ready to head back out, it was almost dark. So no poking in shops in a little river town that rolls up the sidewalks at dusk!

We ate at this cute place called Anvil. It was old and had lots of character. Yummy fried food, prices weren't bad, and I managed to be good and only drink iced tea even though they had Stella Artois on tap. All three of us ate just sinful food (well, I think maybe Kondee's Mom had a salad with her french dip!). Pinup Barber and Kondee's Mom hit it off...I wasn't worried cuz they're both friends with me and BFF. The place was full when we got there but before you knew it we were the only ones left and they were cleaning the floors! That's what happens when you get a group of chatty Cathys like us going! And once we got outside, it was such a nice night that I think we probably talked outside for another half hour or so! It was late when we got back to the hotel but we had such a nice time that it was well worth it.

Thanks to good old steroids, though, I had trouble sleeping in my fluffy bed! I tossed and turned for about half an hour and kept thinking, boy I sure wish I'd brought something to help me sleep. Um, chemo brain must have been kicking in...I'd gotten my Ativan refilled that day and had it in my bag! Duh! So I got up to get it and was only going to take a half but I couldn't break it and then I dropped it in the sink and it started dissolving...so I took a whole one. And slept just fine and got up with no problem. I'm thinking maybe I'm developing a tolerance...

Tuesday morning we got up and ate yummy breakfast and headed over to see my plastic surgeon. We talked about the time frame for my reconstructive surgery and how to determine which surgery I'll have. If I want to have a DIEP flap I need to have a CTA of my abdomen to make sure my vessels are growing in the right direction and will be long enough to move from my abdomen to my chest. Since the CTA involves contrast, I'll have to check with my oncologist to make sure I can have that test during chemo. I'm not in a huge hurry anyway and my surgery won't be till sometime next year so I guess there's no rush.

When I was waiting for my oncologist appointment Monday, PB and I were talking to a couple of ladies in the waiting room and they were telling us I could get a free wig downstairs at the Barnard Health and Cancer Information Center. They were already closed by the time we got done with chemo and class Monday, but we had plenty of time Tuesday. The lady who greeted us was very nice and she led us into a room full of wigs and hats and we just went to town. She grabbed a turban and was trying to show me how to tie it but all I could think of was those Ms. Cleo commercials on TV and PB and I just could not stop laughing! Needless to say, I did not get a turban. I got a cute little fuzzy knit hat though. And the most beautiful wig. Seriously, I tried this thing on and I felt like a movie star. I had to fill out an application to prove financial need to get it. It's way better than my real hair. Maybe I'll just shave my head and wear my wig forever!

Once I walked out of there feeling FABULOUS, we went shopping! No we didn't hit the boutiques or the Galleria, or even JCPenney or Macy's, or Target for that matter. We hit GOODWILL! The day before, when I was wandering down Forest Park Blvd looking for the hotel, we saw the biggest Goodwill we'd ever seen. I didn't realize Pinup Barber was also a thrift shopper like me! Yay! We were in there for hours! She was afraid all the stuff she'd gotten wouldn't fit in my trunk but it did. We just had to move some stuff to the back seat and get a little creative. Next time we're borrowing a truck or taking a U-haul or something. We could have bought a ton more stuff if we could have only gotten it home! My weight has been going up and down so much that my jeans are either too big or too small, so I picked up a couple of pairs that fit that day! I wore one of them yesterday and they fit yesterday too, who knows about tomorrow. It's better than sweats every day though.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty busy days for me this week, and I took advantage of my steroid high to get some stuff done. Unfortunately, I didn't really get my house in order too much. I did get the fridge cleaned out and enough groceries to get by and people are bringing me some food so if this weekend is as shitty as the one after my chemo last time was, I ought to be in a little better shape.

OK well it's time to get BabyBoy fed and ready for CPrez to pick him up for school. I have big plans for a bath and a self mani-pedi this afternoon and maybe a nap!