Christmas Hiatus: 7.2 - 8.4

Welcome back! Sorry it has been a little while. We were so very blessed to have my parents and my brother Thom, his wife Brittany and their two kids Jackson and Graham in town for Christmas. My seventh treatment went fairly smoothly, and the best part was how it aligned with the holiday. My eighth treatment was two days after Christmas, which meant that I was feeling good for the Christmas celebrations, and most importantly, food! Having my family in town really helped us to forget about cancer for a while and just enjoy some time together for a normal Christmas. We had so much fun and ate so much good food (see our family blog for details on Christmas and Alec's birthday!)

Sadly, we had to come back to reality eventually, which meant for us that my parents had to return home, and I had to have chemo treatment number 8. Thom and Brittany were kind enough to watch our kids so that Brittney could accompany me to the treatment. My strategy of late has been to sleep/pretend to sleep for as much of the treatment as possible. This time was no different. It took the nurses 3 tries to get the IV in again, not sure why my veins are so troubling, but it is a bit annoying.

Upon returning home I spent most of the next few days in bed, sleeping a ton. The main effects that chemo seems to have on my is that it makes me feel gross and not want to eat, and it also makes me very tired. In the three or four days after treatment I am able to sleep pretty easily for 12 hours a day. I was able to enjoy some fun evening time with our guests, and even was able to eat some yummy Indian food that we made for our pre-New Years festivities.

Today is more of the same. Feeling not terrible, but food isn't looking the most appetizing yet. I already have my burger place lined up for next week when I feel good. Next up cancer-wise is the CT-scan on the 5th to see how things are progressing. Also, my treatments will be moving to Mondays now, due to scheduling needs.

Happy New Year's!