Chemo HALFWAY Point

Yep, I finally swallowed  the rest of Chemo 4 pills.  Phew!  I also am nearing the end of my seven days off. In two days I'll consult with my chemo doctor and then sneak away for cottage time with Erinn and the kids.  We just finished a week at the in-law's rental cottage.  A nice break. 

My left hand goes pins and needles and numb when I use it, otherwise the side effects of the pills are minimal.  Well, aside from the odd bout of diarrhea.  Of course, that just keeps things exciting. 

My feet also go numb sometimes but no more pain in the feet and they don't get as numb as my hands, particularly the left hand.  The feeling on my left fingertips has not returned yet but now that I'm off the ox, I suppose I should finish these chemo pills that also affect my hands before I can determine if I've suffered permanent nerve damage.

This is WAY better than being on the bottle.  When I was on the chemo bottle, I couldn't eat or drink any cold food let alone touch them without wearing gloves.  If I reached into the fridge to grab something for the kids, I had to wrap my hand in a towel.  Plus, I had that PICC line going into my right bicep.  What a pain.  It's been so good to remove that.  I think I've had it out for a month now and I've been swimming regularly with the kids either in the backyard or at the cottage.  I'm starting to feel like a normal person.

My hair loss has started but that doesn't bother me as I know it'll grow back.

My appetite is good.  Maybe a little too good.  I've been porking up and enjoying summer eating.  Watermelon is good but I like to wash it down with potato chips.

I'm a big reader but usually just magazines, newspapers and websites.  This year, however, has been a little easier to set time aside to read more books and I found this in our collection.  My wife graduated from an American high school in Germany and now I see why this book was required reading.  It should be required for Canadians too.

Although, hard to get through the southern drawl dialect, it was a reminder of the hell of the Depression. 

My grandfather used to talk about riding the rails (roof of the boxcars) from Blind River, Ontario (near Sudbury) into the Prairies looking for work.  He always laughed when he spoke about it so I'm guessing he didn't have any friends or family starve to death.  I'm glad we now have social programs in place to ensure nobody has to be that destitute anymore.