First Sign of Those Side Effects

My Day: Jittery eyeballs. Espresso-like energy. Thoughts pinging twice as fast as normal. Awareness that my mental processing is different than usual. Metallic taste starting. Memory decline about little things is very apparent. The first couple times I experienced this, it honestly freaked me out and made me kind of cry because I thought I’d never feel like myself again! NOT how I wanted to live my life!

However, now all this feels like a normal chemo brain/steroid jacked up kind of day 3 days post chemo. Thankfully, I now know it will get back to normal in about a week. And even MORE thankfully is that this feeling will only happen once more because after my next infusion I will not have that Taxotere drug and those side effects and no more steroids will be needed. 

All that said, today was a very full and productive day! My To-Do List was a mile long and I accomplished it ALL! From sweet cuddle time with hubby this morning to a few family check in calls, then laundry to baking and cooking, mowing and blowing the grass, shopping for new pillows at 3 stores, returning things to a friend, scheduling several appointments, paying bills, reconciling incorrect medical bills (I’m talking a $17,000 bill!!), calling a store about returning then finding the right sink for the WonderVan, cleaning the kitchen 3 times, going to the bank, UPS and the USPS, having a lovely long video talk with a dear friend for over an hour, reading, praying, vacuuming, helping John with WonderVan planning, writing thank you cards, and blogging…& I’m sure there’s something else but I can just feel the buzzing energy pouring out of my body today as I did all this!!

Since I’m going to Illinois this weekend for my daughter’s Illinois baby shower, I’ve decided to leave a couple days early so that I don’t run into unexpected chemo fatigue.  I’m thinking it won’t be too bad because I’ve talked to my medical oncologist about extending taking the steroids for a couple more days to help with the traveling and visiting. I’m hoping I can easily drive on Wednesday and Sunday for about 6.5 hours each day without the fatigue that sometimes hits me!

I didn’t take any photos today for my blog so I’ll add some from a weekend camping trip from last year when I met up with my former sister in law, Debbie! We went to Land Between The Lakes in Kentucky! We biked, hiked, camped, laughed, and lived life to the fullest! She took several of these photos while there with us. I love this lady and so thankful to call her family and friend for the past 35 years! These are just for fun that I feel like sharing! Enjoy!! I love you DK! You’re a precious gift from God!

This was me showing where I was attempting to ride my mountain bike up a steeper climb than usual. 

These pelicans were flying in right in front of our campsite!

There’s an elk and bison sanctuary in the LBL Park that we drove through and she captured this mama and baby so sweetly!

John and I slept inside the van while Debbie slept in the rooftop tent!

Here she is!! What an amazing woman. I’m so blessed because of her!

The bison and elk refuge! This boy was so close and beautiful!