Back at Last

After another long delay I'm back, and this time the port surgery went very well. The pain level is about 1/5 that of the last one, and even the nurses at chemo on Monday (when we used the port for the first time and it worked perfectly) said it looks "more normal" than the last one as far as installation goes. It will get another chance to shine tomorrow, as I go back for another blood transfusion Thursday afternoon. I have been weaker than ever, the fatigue seems to build upon itself with each cycle of chemo for me. I did feel better after the last transfusion, so hopefully this one will do as much good.

We wanted to try and use Scott's blood, but timing-wise it's not going to work out this time. We have a new plan, though, where he sets blood aside in advance (in the next couple of weeks) and its ready when I need it. It takes the blood bank about a week to process, and by the time the doctor orders it and he gets an appointment to donate it was going to be almost two weeks, too long for me to wait. We want to make it work, though, so we'll do what we need to for future transfusions, since I can assume I will most likely need some. Tee Aranesp shot that is supposed to do the same thing as a transfusion is somewhat effective on me, but my dr. thinks the transfusions work better, so I'm okay with that.

I did get my Neulasta shot yesterday, and its hard to tell if thats why my legs are weak today or if its just standard chemo reaction, since they were weak yesterday too before the shot. I'm going to monitor things carefully before I walk down 48 steps at work on my way home, though, just in case my legs are unhappy.