2/29/2008: Vacuuming My Pillowcase

Today has been quite a day to say the least. I awoke to a DISASTER. I lost so much hair during the night that I could have vacuumed my pillow case and made an army of Barbie dolls. Kere came over first thing this morning and we had a buzz party! Of course, I did the first cut, then after that I handed the scissors over to Kere. I now have a half-inch of hair on my head and it's SO chilly outside. Eeek! Some people might find it strange that I decided to buzz my head as opposed to just letting it fall out naturally, but honestly, for me, it is about control. Cutting my hair off (or allowing Kere to) liberated me and made me feel as though I had a say in the situation. Strangely enough, I actually think it looks adorable!

I had my third round of Herceptin this morning, which didn't go too well. The medication gives me a horrible headache and makes me quite nauseous and sleepy. They were able to give me medication through the IV/port to help easy the side effects, though.

They checked my blood count prior to administering the medication and I was disappointed that it came back bad. My white blood count has dropped, but is basically back to where it was prior to chemotherapy, so it is considered average. The shot in my stomach had simply elevated my levels to keep them from dipping too low, but now they are back to normal. On the other hand, my red blood count is very low, meaning that I am now anemic. Not good! It is normal that the chemotherapy can do this, but I should try to adjust my diet some to consume more red meat and green veggies. It is a double-edged sword, however, since those things can make my IBS act up, especially the red meat. My nurse said they would watch my red blood count level and if it dips lower then I will need to administer another shot after chemotherapy for the red blood cells along with the shot for the white blood cells. Stupid cells. Stupid cancer.

This whole thing is quite a roller coaster. Just when you think things are on track you blaze into a dark tunnel and get swept into a cork screw.