This past weekend, my good friend Holly came to visit me on her way back to school in Newfoundland coming from out West. This Labour day weekend, I don't think I've laughed (nor drank) that much since I was diagnosed 4 months ago. For anyone who doesn't know Holly, she is very free spirited and is always down for a good time. Her energy and spirit is just what I needed. Holly made me forget about all my troubles and it felt like nothing had changed, like I was normal again. With summer coming to an end, I've started to feel down lately. End of summer means no more visits and no "back to school" for me. Holly was the last person to visit as everyone has now gone back to school. However; I'm so glad I had as much fun as I did. Having Holly here made me realize how much I miss Newfoundland, school and my friends. This summer I have been so blessed to have so many visits this summer from friends all over the country! I can not thank them enough for them taking time out of their busy summer to visit me. This weekend may have been the last visit but when I'm all done with this, I plan on taking a celebratory trip to Newfoundland even if its not for a long time but just enough to see everyone and feel normal again. As I mentioned before, end of summer means no "back to school" for me. Today everyone in Public school went back and tomorrow everyone from University starts their classes. I've felt this feeling before when I took a "Victory Lap" after high school. Everyone moving on with their life but you. However; last time it was my choice and I was working and taking online courses then. This time it is not my choice. Even though, I technically wouldn't be going back to school anyways because I would be on my work-term, It is still tough because this wasn't part of the plan. I've realized I can't change any of this and I just have to take this year and heal. For those of you dreading school, early mornings and late nights studying, please somehow enjoy them for me as I dream of going back to school and doing what I love to do. You never know when these things will be taken away from you. Walking into Chemo #6 this week, I've noticed a tremendous amount of physical changes. To start of, my hair is thinning more and more. I have even noticed that when I wash my face, some of eyebrows and eyelashes fall out. You may wonder if this bothers me. It honestly doesn't because in my head I'm thinking "It's about damn time!". However; what has been bothering me is my skin. To start off, I think I've finally found a bandage that doesn't irritate my skin but it has to be changed every 2 days. The rash on my arms that I had are finally starting to clear up. My scalp is still sore and red. The redness has reduced since using baby shampoo but my scalp gets sore when I put my hair up in a little "half pony tail". Even when sleeping, the pulling of my hair irritates my scalp. This is why I feel a head shave coming soon, not because of the shedding but because of the scalp irritation. I have also recently noticed my face and chest becoming very flushed. This can happen because of a number of reasons. One of the chemo drugs called Dicarbazine and the steroids that I take can cause your face to look flushed. I could have also come into contact with the sun but I haven't really been out in the sun. It could also be that the Dicarbazine drug is making my skin sensitive to my face cleanser. To hopefully solve this issue, I am now going to put sunscreen on my face anytime I am outside. I usually use the Neutragona, 110 SPF, dermatologist recommended sunscreen so hopefully it helps. I am also going to use a more gentler face cleanser or just use water from now on. I have also been experiencing extreme muscle pain at night, mainly in my neck and back as well as my hips and ankles. To the point I wake up crying, in the middle of the night. Unfortunately the only thing I can take right now is Tylenol. I am not able to take any anti-inflammatory's. I do find that hot baths and a heating pad on my back temporarily reduces the pain. Tomorrow, I meet with my oncologist for my regular check up and blood work, followed by Chemo #6 on Thursday. Hopefully, I might be able to get something for pain relief. Fortunately, I have had it pretty lucky and have been healthy enough to have visits and go out and do fun things with my friends during their stay. I think now that the visits are done, my body is saying its done holding up and giving out on me. Although these side effects don't seem too pleasant, these are all pretty normal side effects of Chemotherapy. Please keep reading my blog posts, I appreciate everyone's love and support! Take a look at all the fun I had with Holly during her stay here. We visited Primitive Designs in Port Hope where there are lots of cool statues and art pieces! She definitely gave me the boost of love, strength and happiness I needed as summer comes to an end!
2 Comments
Joey
9/6/2017 02:53:49 am
Hey Katie I know how your feeling last year I diagnosed with non hodgkin lymphoma. There were a lot bad days and a lot of good days. I can relate to a lot of your symptoms especially the bone pain a lot of mine came from the neupogen I received after my treatments. I had a total of 8 rounds of chemo and 21 rounds of radiation. I to also work offshore with atlantic towing and was off work for over 18 months I'm happy to say that I'm almost through my 2nd trip back it's still a battle for my especially physical my body still feels the aftermath of the chemo and radiation treatments. Keep your spirits high and take it one day at a time and everything will be fine in the end and you can get back to doing what you love most. Take care
Reply
Katie Barker
9/8/2017 09:54:33 am
Thank you so much for the encouragement! It's a good feeling to know that someone understands exactly what I'm going through!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Author: Katie BarkerJust an average Sailor who battled Cancer and won! Archives
August 2018
Categories |