No big updates this week, but here’s a collection of a few small things:

Chemo

Another round of chemo is in the books—third of six this cycle.

Nausea was managed again, which is a win. I felt more fatigued this time, had some queasiness, and basically zero appetite—but I force-fed myself whatever I could stomach (including the fine delicacy that is Honey Nut Cheerios with 2% Fairlife).

Cold sensitivity showed up again, but less than last cycle. I’m wondering if that’s because I was able to keep my ice packs colder during the oxaliplatin part of infusion. I like to think that’s true—because that’s something I can control.

Blood Work/Weight/Anemia

Vitals and labs happen before every infusion to make sure I’m cleared for treatment.

Weight is holding steady, and my anemia markers are trending up—just barely back into the green. I’m thrilled about this. Hopefully they stay there or keep climbing. 

White blood cells and platelets are dropping, which is expected. The goal is simply to keep everything high enough to continue chemo.

Naturally, I analyzed all of this data on MyChart and feel good about the trends.
Just gotta keep on keepin’ on.

Food

I’m now in my recovery week (formerly known as “off week,” but that felt like a lie as there is nothing “off” about this entire process).

My appetite is BACK.

I’m tolerating fiber and real food well. I’ve added beans, some spice, and my beloved Banza pasta with no problem—and I hope to test broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale before chemo knocks me back down next week and I’m back to my cheerios.

Boobs and MRIs

Expander-to-implant surgery is scheduled for the end of June—about 4.5 weeks after my last infusion.

It feels a little daunting to roll into surgery so soon after chemo, but the plan is to optimize recovery in those weeks and make it work. (And of course, we won’t proceed unless my bloodwork says I can.)

Once the expander is out, I’ll get an MRI to assess how much the chemo has shrunk the rectal tumor and we go from there with that surgical plan.

PT

I’m still going to PT twice per week and doing my home exercises. 

My left side range of motion is improving a lot—I did a full snow angel yesterday without my left arm lifting off the ground. Win.

We’ve also started layering in conditioning: banded bridges, leg lifts with ankle weights, standing hip flexion, extension, abduction, and arm/leg bike. Slowly rebuilding strength, muscle, and endurance after losing it because of surgery and chemo.

Acupuncture

I haven’t written about this yet, but I’ve been doing oncology-focused acupuncture for several weeks now.

I also get six free sessions through the Inova Life with Cancer program, and I’ll transition to one of their practitioners in May before returning to my community provider.

I’m using acupuncture to help mitigate nausea, fatigue, anxiety, pain, help with anemia, and build overall resilience.

It’s been awesome.

Escape!

I rented an AirBnb in the mountains of central Virginia the weekend before this last chemo round. I desperately needed to get out of the four walls of my place, out of the city, and into some nature—which is immensely healing in and of itself. 

My brother was on chemo duty with me last week and was able to meet me at the spot. 

We had a nice time eating food, sitting outside, and day dreaming about the future.

This is my favorite kind of resilience-building.

 

The rest of recovery week looks like:

1. Eating, eating, eating (protein, protein, protein—crucial for always but in this case, chemo tolerance and recovery)
2. As much movement as I can handle without exhausting my system—with a goal of surpassing last recovery week’s max of a 1.3 mile walk, which happened in aforementioned Escape (I could aim for 1.313mi and have that be my 1% for the week! But I’ll aim for more distance than that…)
3. Daily yoga nidra
4. Seeing and interacting with humans I enjoy

Then, next week, we get knocked down again.