Well good golly Miss Dolly, have I dropped off the face of the earth? Seems that way.

May it never be said that I am a consistent blogger. Informative, maybe, but not consistent.

Today’s post is really a boring one, for I haven’t done much. In fact I seem to have reverted to an infant. All I do is eat, sleep, and poop (pardon my vulgarity). That is quite it. In terms of chemotherapy, I’m still waiting on that dismal 6-day stay. In this round, the first appointment, the 2-day hospital stay, really knocked me for a loop. Day 10 after the 2-day is supposed to be the lowest point, and boy was it ever. I was horribly weak and pale. Luckily we had a clinic appointment to check numbers and other fancy things. I received 2 units of blood, which was literally like being injected with new life. I’ll take this moment to thank any and all blood donors, and encourage those who are able to donate to do so. I was a blood donor before my diagnosis, and now, being on the other side of the donation, I appreciate the value of a donation even more. I wish I could come up with an appropriate analogy to explain how I feel after transfusion. It’s probably what Bella Swan felt like when she became a vampire (apologies for a Twilight reference).

At this moment I’m improving every day: carrying on with my infantile duties, waiting to be brought back down low by the 6-day trek. If I didn’t have the nose of a bloodhound right now, and if I weren’t nauseated by the plastic, sterile scents of the hospital linens, it’d probably be fine. Unfortunately, neither of those “if’s” is true. However, this is not a cry for pity. In my last 6-day stay, my next-door neighbor was celebrating his 83rd day in the hospital. I would not be able to handle that.

Again, I’m going to conclude with a huge THANK YOU to all of your support, prayers, amazing gifts, meals, cards, and everything else. I am able to tackle every new day because of it.

Hello all! I just wanted to throw out a quick post between treatments. The day after I posted we went back to clinic for another try, with success! I was admitted for my 6-day inpatient treatment, which I honestly don’t remember a lot of (sorry for ending a sentence in a preposition). I slept for most of it, and most of my waking hours were spent peeing. TMI again? Sorry. I tried to watch The Lego Movie, but the next day I couldn’t remember watching it. I watched it again, but forgot it again. I now know that I will not get anything productive done in the hospital. Don’t worry, I watched it for a third time last night and loved it. I know you were probably worried.

I’ve never really been scared of or uncomfortable with hospitals, and I’m still not, but staying in them is even less fun than you might imagine. I’m really sensitive to different smells right now, and the plasticky, sterile hospital smell is the absolute worst. Mom and I found that putting a stick of gum on my upper lip is a great way to mask the smell. Apparently, surgeons often put oil of wintergreen on their upper lips during surgery for the same reason. Dad failed to share that with me.

Anyway, I’m just throwing out some stuff right now in the time between treatments. More of my stubbly head hair has fallen out, which is good for sleeping because it’s prickly. My eyelashes thinned a little bit, which sucks. I am, however, holding tight to my eyebrows. Hooray! It’s the little things.

I apologize for not having posted sooner. I was hoping to wait until I have finished my first round of chemo so that I could make one big post about my first complete experience. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting for my counts, so that’s not going to happen.

What do I mean by counts? Every time I go into clinic for chemo, my port is accessed and blood is drawn for labs. The labs come back, providing an array of information regarding my blood and my immunity. The most important count is the ANC, the Absolute Neutrophil Count, because it will determine whether my body can handle more chemotherapy drugs. I have been waiting on my counts to rise for about 2 weeks now, and I can’t do a thing to help.

My chemo schedule is this: week 1, two days inpatient (meaning I am admitted to the hospital; week 2, one day outpatient (meaning I am just in clinic); week 3, 5-6 days inpatient; week 4, rest.

Week 1 was not very bad. My nausea was well controlled: I never threw up, I just felt a little off. After coming home from the hospital I slept for about 3 days, eating very little. After that, I felt normal. Week 2 was a simple 15 minute infusion of Vincristine, but it turned out to have the worst effect. The next morning I was due to take my APUSH exam, but I was too sick to go. It was the first time I’ve thrown up in years (TMI, I know.)  Another 2 days of sleeping and lounging, and I was back to my old self. Now, I’m waiting on my ANC to rise so that I can begin Week 3. After 3 complete cycles of chemo, we’ll be ready to surgically remove the tumor.

Let’s talk about hair loss. A few days after my outpatient infusion, my hair was still completely intact. However, I had been told that my hair would fall out about 2 weeks in. I had already cut and donated 8 inches so that the loss would not be so dramatic. How much time did I have left? That night I hesitantly ran my fingers through my newly shorn hair, and there was quite a lot of hair in my hand. It had begun. I spent the rest of the night pulling hair out myself, desperate to be in control of my situation. The next day my parents and I tried to find hats, and dad finally found a couple at Claire’s. Matthew and Katie followed soon after with several adorable hats. I am dearly loved. My hair continued to thin, and, tired of looking sicker than I am, I decided to shave it. Matthew shaved it for me. Remember when I said I am dearly loved? I am.

I’m much less upset about my baldness than I thought I would be. In fact, I rather like the look. My head is a weird shape, though. It’s long in profile, like Megamind or something. The silver lining is that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described Sherlock Holmes as having the same head shape in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.

I’d like to conclude by thanking you all again for your continued kindness and prayers. Reader, take this time to do something nice for yourself, for me. Even if it’s just taking a minute to do your favorite thing or watch a video of a baby laughing. I wish more than anything that I could properly repay you.