Baby's Last Round of Chemo

It's hard to believe that I began my 6th round of chemo today. These treatments have really flown by. I'm currently on my Adriamycin pump until Friday - always a bummer. At 31 weeks, my baby boy is doing really well. It's tough to sleep for more than an hour or two at a time as I'm constantly having to readjust my belly, hips, pump or go to the loo. I try to catch up during the day with naps.

My blood counts have rebounded from last week and since I'm on Decadrone (a steroid) this week, I finally have some energy. All my doctors are exceedingly pleased with both mine and the baby's progress. P.J. and I also feel very good about everything and keep hoping it lasts. :)

I spent a lot of the Labor Day weekend resting. I just didn't have the drive to get much done. It was nice to go swimming yesterday in Posy's pool and to feel buoyant with my belly and tissue expanders.

Would you believe at my ultrasound last week that the technician saw HAIR on our son? Amazing! He may have more hair at birth than his mom and dad do! I think I'm experiencing another period of hair loss as I'm shedding a little more heavily again and my eyebrows are starting to look more skimpy. Despite that, my leg hair is still growing and I still have to shave. The nurses were telling me today that normally with Adriamycin, I should be hairless by now - all over my body. I still have hair all over - inside my nose, arms, torso, etc. We are all amazed by this. I do have a case of cradle cap as my scalp is very scalely. Nice. Don't you love the unique grooming problems I have?

I'm very sad to share that my awesome Great Aunt Margaret is experiencing kidney failure. She's 89-years-old and is a pistol. She lives in Atlanta and just moved into hospice today. She called me last month and we had a very lively conversation. I'll treasure that as there is no way that I can travel down there to see her in her final days. Aunt Margaret is an amazing woman.

I'm going to go to bed now. I'm reading a great book called "The Middle Place," by Kelly Corrigan. She writes of her firsthand account of having breast cancer as a 37-year-old mom while dealing with her father's late stage bladder cancer. I sometimes like to read about other's experiences - depending on their attitude and the outcome.

I'll write more this week.

xxoo
Jana