Achilles Heel

Sorry for the dearth of posts lately, but I think I have found my Achille's heel with this stuff. Day 8 in each cycle just saps my strength!. I'm good Day 1 through 7 of the three-week chemo cycle, mostly because after the rest week all my levels are up (red blood cells, white blood cells, etc) but Day 1 when I get Gemzar zaps them down for the next week, so by Day 8 when I get the Gemzar/Taxotere double-whammy the levels are little more than half what they were one week earlier, then we hit them hard. Now, I 'm not complaining, we seem to be getting results, and all tenderness and pain I was feeling from the tumor/sarcoma area is gone (I used to feel it between chemo acting up in cycle one like it felt right before surgery, when it was really painful) but it does make Jane a dull girl, to coin a phrase.

Yesterday I came home from work, ate something, got in bed at 4:30 PM and slept, with only a few wake up breaks for meds and bathroom until 6:30 AM when I got up for work today! That's nearly 14 full hours, and still I'm tired. Well, I guess priorities are set, and getting better is it, so sleep it is! I still enjoy going to work, no matter how tiring, because I feel like I'm a contributing member of the household/society, so that's not the issue, it's just getting a handle on things. This cycle is MUCH better than last cycle at this time when I was so sick, so I think I'm finding a balance, and in another cycle or two I could be breezing through it.

One other note, I found the FORCE program book and am excited to start a slow-building cancer workout program. I think their approach is great, incorporating workouts to build strength, stress-reduction and nutrition (see, I do love a multi-pronged approach!). They say I will probably be in better shape in a few months than I was before I was diagnosed, and of this I'm sure, since I was basically being a bit of a slug with a foot issue (long since cleared up, fortunately). So this weekend I start my new VERY slow building workout program and am quite excited about it! Anytime I can be proactive I feel better about the whole situation, and regardless of my tired state I am feeling more positive about beating this than ever. Huzzah!