Right and Wrong

Chemo was fine last Thursday.

I brought two boxes of Girl Scout cookies to Duke. I gave one box to the phlebotomists and got a hug. I don't think those poor folks get a lot of love from patients. It's hard to be charmed by the person who jabs a needle into your arm, unless they are very very good at what they do. The other box of Girl Scout cookies went to my chemo nurse, Lynn, who is awesome.

Everything went really well. My port performed magnificently.  Afterward, on the way home, Lou and I stopped at the Dim Sum House (yum) for a quick lunch. When we got home, I collapsed on the couch.

The chemo made me really tired. I was completely wiped out for most of the weekend. I slept a lot. I didn't even go to work on Friday, because I was so tired and listless.  Me, listless!  Hard to believe.

On top of the chemo exhaustion, my back started killing me again on Thursday. The shooting pains, the inexplicable pain near my ankle, the inability to lie down at night -- it was all back just as bad as in December -- but now in my right leg.

I was shocked that my right leg would give me so much trouble. My left leg, that betrayer, I am never surprised by what it does.

I tried to work out the tense muscles like Jaime does in physical therapy, and I ended up with a bunch of bruises. I guess having PT done to you does not actually qualify you to do PT. Imagine that.

So, this back pain. I have been struggling since October with this back pain. That is seven months. My goodness. (For about three months, though, the pain has been under control.) But still, that is too long.

Oh, and I have a boo boo on my tongue. This chemo causes dry mouth and possibly mouth sores. For me, when my mouth is dry, there is one spot where my tongue rubs against a sharp inner edge of a molar and gets sore... This weekend it went from sore to a big white inflamed spot. At the drugstore, I found the wax that kids put on their braces, and that has made a huge improvement because my poor tongue is resting on a smooth surface instead of a sharp one. I wonder how long this will take to heal?

I accidentally ate a blob of wax when I took some pills last night. I was sure that the wax would stick to my teeth! Nope. It washed right down with the pills. I hope there are no carbs in wax. I am temporarily diabetic now, after all.