Thursday

"You look good," my friend Susan said as we ended our walk this afternoon. What a difference a couple of days and a couple of liters of fluid make! We walked for about 45 minutes... it felt good to be out in the fresh air, enjoying great conversation and building my stamina. My legs felt pretty wobbly at the end, but it sure was better than feeling winded going up a flight of stairs, as was the case earlier this week.

Susan and I also helped a young mom during our walk. As we came up her street, we noticed this lady carrying her baby a bit awkwardly, talking to someone by cell phone, following a goofy brown lab back and forth. We made eye contact and she asked if we could help her catch her dog. After talking with her some more, we discovered that she thought her house was on fire and the fire truck was on its way. Susan offered to hold her baby while I tracked down her dog. The dog was enjoying his freedom too much to make things easy for me, but eventually he let me put the collar on him. When I came out of the woods, Susan was alone on the street, holding the baby. Before long the lady and firemen came out of the house and said it wasn't a fire, just a short in the dryer. We gave her back her dog and baby. Susan knew one of the firefighters, so as she chatted with him, I talked with the still-dazed mom. She was grateful it wasn't a fire and thankful for our help. Amazing what can happen when I feel well enough to leave my own neighborhood!

I am feeling much better in so many ways. I was suffering from a bit of numbness at my fingertips, and that seems to have decreased today. This is good as neuropathy is a side effect that could be permanent. In my last cycle, my fingers and toes tingled off and on. This time, the ends are slightly numb. I drop things easily and have trouble picking up small items. I can still button my shirt without looking, so I always had some feeling in them. Today my fingers are feeling more normal. I plan on talking with my doctor regarding this as I want to make sure we do what we can to prevent this from growing worse and becoming permament.

Today, back at the hospital, I received my weekly infusion of Herceptin and another liter of fluids. My white blood cell count is really low, but the doctor chose not to give me the white blood booster shot because of the effect four shots last time had on my bones. Plus, another indicator in my blood count, as the nurse explained to me, showed evidence that more white blood cells were being produced.  So, my  mission this week is to stay away from crowds and germs and wash, wash, wash. Tomorrow, the kids are going to the fair with some friends, and I'm going to go as far as the front entrance to drop them off, then go back home and try to stay healthy.