I miss limbo

It has begun. The good news is I am currently on the upswing part of the week - so every day I feel a bit better. I mean today I even had an appetite, ate and didn't want to throw up right after! Woo hoo! Win!

So last Thursday was my first infusion (injection? I don't know what it's supposed to be called.) and it was an interesting experience. Sitting in the room with everyone else, all of us with our IVs in, looking around wondering who's sicker than you, appreciating that you're young enough to walk around still...good times. I did sit there for long enough that I had to get up to go to the bathroom at one point so they unplug the IV from the wall (it has a battery so it still works - don't worry) and you take it with you to the bathroom. The last time I had to carry a pole with a bunch of IV bags and whatnot hanging off it was when I was in the hospital and could only shuffle around like I was 80, so this time it was kind of great to be able to jump up (and be wearing real clothes as opposed to the flowy hospital "gown" - more like a sheet with snaps to create an arm hole and strings to tie behind your neck - just what you want to be wearing when you're walking up and down public hallways) and prance over to the restroom no big deal.

The actual infusion experience wasn't so bad. My chair was comfortable, my mom was there to watch Bones on Netflix with me, I didn't feel sick while I was sitting there - all in all not too bad. I met probably the 5th social worker since being diagnosed (they are everywhere and always eager to help you out, which is nice) - I don't know how they always know when you're new to the next phase but they do and they come to talk to you. It's kind of impressive.

A couple hours after the infusion things started getting worse. And by the next day I felt like crap. That lasted for a few days. Juuuust long enough to make me miss out on all the delicious goodies of Independence Day. Yes, I'm still bitter about it. I think I'm always bitter about missing out on holiday food. Holiday food is the best! Though, on the plus side, I am now lighter than what my driver's license says. And that license weight hasn't been true since...I don't even know when. Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

But besides missing out on delicious all-American food - including ice cream which I LOVE - (actually I did try to eat the ice cream. It probably wasn't smart. I can't eat cold things so I tried to let it melt - with the help of some hot fudge - but even in it's soupy state it was cold enough to trigger the throat tightening which sucked), the 4th of July was fabulous. We played on the beach, I got to see my niece and nephews (and their parents who I also like), we sang patriotic songs and watched fireworks. What more could you want? There was a sand castle building contest, ultimate frisbee, body boarding, laying out... and like any good cancer patient undergoing chemo would, I spent the entire time on the beach in a t-shirt, jeans, socks AND shoes lounging in the shade of various umbrellas. Yep. I'm the cool kid.

Anyway. Gotta enjoy the next week and a half before the bad part of chemo cycles back around. Happy July everyone!