I hate my pee.
For ten days, my pee stunk so bad. I mean STUNK. I have talked to about this before but I am going to address it once more. Why? Because, it’s my blog. While in the hospital, my dual port is hooked up to two (most of the time) IV bags.
My Port
I had Thiamine being pumped in me pretty much the whole time I was there. The other port would have the chemo, pre-meds, potassium, you name it, was being pumped into me. Because of this, the RN’s wanted to make sure I am peeing enough. It’s a pretty big deal.
They set up the bucket in my toilet to catch it and measure how much I go, when I go. Gross right? Bleech! Well, I pee ALL THE TIME and the thought of calling the tech or RN every time I go, to tell them how much and then they can dump it…ugh. Not going to happen.
So I kept track of it myself. Each time I went to the bathroom I wrote the amount, the time and the date down in a little notebook I had with me. The RN or Tech would check and cross off the amounts. This worked out great especially during the middle of the night. They didn’t have wake me up to ask, they would just check my little notebook. However, all this peeing, monitoring and the smell really made me hate my pee. I know, who loves their pee? But I really can’t stand mine. Coming home meant no more tracking but for the first four days I could still smell that chemo every time.
My Pee Log
What’s hair today can be gone tomorrow.
The hair on my head is gone. The hair on my right leg is gone. Armpit hair= gone. Hair done there, also gone. However, my arm hair is not. The hair on lower left leg is still there too. Still have some of my eyebrows and eyelashes. I wonder why I lose the hair on my head but not the hair on my arms. How does the chemo know what hair to kill off?
Can’t I lose at least 10 pounds?
When you think of chemo patients, you think of bald, pale skinny people right? Yeah, no. Not me. I am bald. I am paler then usual. What I am not, is skinny. I mean, I thought I was going to lose some weight here! I had a friend who lost over 30 pounds! Me, I have lost 4. I am not saying I want to be weak or nauseous or have no appetite but COME ON! Give me 10 pounds! Guess I will have to lose it the old fashion way. 
Feeling Good Louis!
I know a lot of people are surprised by how I have been feeling, the energy I have, the appetite I have etc. I was talking to my friend Gerri who has had both chemo and two thoracotomies, like me, and she asked which I though was worse. The thoracotomies or chemo.
Thoracotomy
A thoracotomy or thoracostomy is an incision into the pleural space of the chest.[1] It is performed by surgeons (or emergency physicians under certain circumstances) to gain access to the thoracic organs, most commonly the heart, the lungs, or the esophagus, or for access to the thoracic aorta or the anterior spine (the latter may be necessary to access tumors in the spine).
Thoracotomy is a major surgical maneuver—it is the first step in many thoracic surgeries including lobectomy or pneumonectomy for lung cancer—and as such requires general anesthesiawith endotracheal tube insertion and mechanical ventilation.
Thoracotomies are thought to be one of the most difficult surgical incisions to deal with post-operatively, because they are extremely painful and the pain can prevent the patient from breathing effectively, leading to atelectasis or pneumonia.–From Wikipedia
Hands down the thoracotomies were worse. Now I am not saying chemo is easy, cause it isn’t. I think one of the reasons why I am doing so well, is because I am admitted into the hospital for five days and do receive all the different medications and Thiamine. Then I come home and get injections of neupogen for five days. I also try to keep ahead of the nausea as best as I can, so that when it does hit, I am only in pain for about twenty minutes. But who knows, every cycle of chemo has been a little bit different. I wonder how cycle three will affect me.
My Head is Cold
My Brother asked me to talk about being bald. He thinks it is great I am bald, since he is bald too. We probably look the most alike then we ever have. Here are some random thoughts on being bald:
-Taking a shower takes all of 5 minutes if that. All I really have to do is wash my body. I really have no idea what bald men do that keeps them in there so long.
-If my head is not under the water while in the shower, it gets really cold.
-My head sweats a lot.
-I sleep in a beanie or my winter hat with a ball on top.
-I still shampoo my head out of habit.
-Sometimes I forget I am bald and when I see myself in the mirror I am like “what the hell happened to you!”
-I never go out in public without a head covering. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
-I am not sure what it feels like to swim bald but should find out this weekend.
-I have a small red birthmark on the back on my head.
Give Away!
Reader’s! My Hotel Yorba and doing its first ever giveaway! Woot! Woot! Over the next three days, three people (total) will have a chance to win their own Hotel Yorba key chain. I know right!?!
Here is what you need to do:
1. Comment on the Saturday, Sunday or Monday’s posts. You can comment as often as you want. Tell me what you like. Don’t like. What you want to see more of on the Blog. Do want to see an interview with Timber or Turbo? You tell me…as many times as you want.
2. The contest will end Tuesday night @ midnight. On Wednesday morning, The Boy will randomly choose one person from each day’s comments as the winner. To make it fair and scientific, he will have his eyes closed.
Go make a comment!!!
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