In the ring again.

Dear All,

I am lying in bed, given that the effects of the chemo seem to have hit more immediately this time around. No nausea - just a strange, uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, and the taste of chemo in my mouth which I can't get rid of. It's the tiredness that knocks me sideways... literally like the plug has been pulled out of me and there's that computer message on my body screen saying "Shutting down...." So I went to bed at 8:30 last night, slept about 10 hours, only to wake up and after breakfast sleep another two hours... and another nap seems imminent. Have snuck in lots of James kisses in between which always do a world of good. Need to work on food intake, but the thought of food is pretty unappealing. Bring on the fresh vegetable juices!

Saw Dr. Plowman yesterday, and asked for the pep talk. In his warm, yet factual way, he did his best to give me peace of mind while also addressing the questions that I had. Looks like the boob seems to be contuining to respond well, while my lymph node seems to have plateaued in its shrinking following its initial drastic change when I started the chemo process. So, Dr. Plowman wants to let this fourth round do its work, and then rescan me via CT on the 9th, in two weeks' time, to see how the metastases have responded. Options include continuing as we are doing, changing the chemo protocol for the last two rounds, or doing surgery sooner in between cycles to get the lymph node (and breast tumour too maybe?) out. We shall see. So it is full steam ahead for the next fortnight, and then discussion of the game plan following the scan. I am nervous on one hand, and still very hopeful on the other. The main thing is knowing what I'm up against, so that the fight remains targeted, strong and successful. Gotta get the music right, the sights set on that finish line no matter how long the road and how many twists in it, and the body in steady gear. I will get there - failure is not an option, take it from a Type A, Grade A personality!!!! Love to you all.