Cycle 1 Day 8

Today my appt was at 10:45, so my neighbor drove me to the hospital. Bloodwork was taken, and I turned up anemic. Enough that they decided to drop my Gemzar dosage. We also decided to get two units of blood which would be faster at keeping my anemia at bay. The Arinesp shot takes awhile to kick in, and there is now talk that it may interfere with the Gemzar.

So, I spent the afternoon hooked up. Napped a bit. My blood pressure went up and down all day, not sure why. After I started taking the high-blood medication, I had an immediate drop to those numbers I've had all my lilfe. We're not sure what the cause is.

I'm having some restless leg syndrome tonight, so took an Ambien and waiting for that to kick in. Hopefully I'll have a short day at the hospital on Monday. My sister wants to spend the afternoon with me. That wil be really nice, considering her schedule this time of year.

Saturday afternoon: Whatever it is I took kicked in big time. I could hardly walk. My balance was off the charts. I fell at some point face first into the carpet and have a nice scrape and bruise at the top of my nose. Went back to bed after a bit and slept in spurts. Took a nap this afternoon. Not sure what that was all about. Always carefully check your medication bottles especially when there are more of them than you have fingers on one hand.

I'm not really feeling the perk I expected from the blood transfusion. I do have a bit of a headache. I think we may need to get a sphygmomenometer (blood pressure kit) to keep a closer eye. The blood pressure issue really bothers me. I've had low-end BP my whole life. After I finished the chemo in November, it suddenly went up--way up. No one could explain why it jumped. As soon as I started the meds, it came down pretty nicely. But it seems to jump around a bit. So, we may keep a closer eye on that.

Ah, the joys of chemo again. Can't live with it, can't live without it. One thing I have learned is that if you're going to have chemo, get the power port. It just makes things easier. Don't wait for 3 months like I did to see if the chemo is working or not. That port just saves all kinds of trouble. Your veins will thank you.