Deb Crowe Schlosser Beats Cancer

Well, it’s been a few weeks & we’re rolling along. Not much to report – just running the weekly routine with chemo.

Steve picks me up every Tuesday morning around 8:30 & we get to the oncologist around 9. Once I get into the “chair”, I get a series of fluids before the actual chemo. First up is a steroid that prohibits me from sleeping that night. Next is benedryl – not sure why this is part of the protocol, but it makes me super sleepy/groggy once it kicks in. Then there is a nauseau preventative. Finally the chemo is the biggest bag of fluid & takes about an hour to drip into my system. I wear super cold gloves & booties that have frozen inserts to keep my hands & feet from being affected by potential neuropathy.

The whole process takes about 3-4 hours and once I get home in the early afternoon, I’m still super sleepy & will just crash on the couch or watch TV & stay quiet. As mentioned, I don’t sleep that night much more than a couple of hours. I get really caught up on TV.

Wednesdays I try to take way easy because I’m typically wiped out/tired. But I’m otherwise still feeling pretty normal with a decent appetite.

Thursdays I’m typically feeling pretty good & can function normally – this stays until about mid-day Friday, when what I call “‘Mo Mouth” kicks in. And waves of being super tired & little bits of nauseau start rolling in. I stop being as interested in food. Stays like this through the weekend.

By Sunday night, the ‘mo mouth has subsided & my energy starts to climb back up, plus my appetite starts to improve. I usually sleep pretty good Sunday/Mondays and am back to start the process all over again on Tuesday.

5 more weeks of this. I’m working most days for about 3-4 hours, and am laying pretty low otherwise. Keeping our tiny apartment/sanctuary clean & tidy has been easy. Now that hurricane season is almost over, I feel good about getting some more gardening done. Life is good, slow, sometimes difficult but the end of this phase is near. We’ve got this. Group hug!!!!