If You're Going Through Hell, Bring Your Friends

You don't realize how much you need the support of your friends and family, until you are going through hell. The 8 weeks of A&C treatment was definitely taxing on my body, my mind, and yes even my soul. The toll it took forced me to slow down and, for once, put my needs first. Late nights have been banished and I'm no longer surprised if I sleep until 9am and need a nap by 2pm. 

It has been awesome how my support group has shown up for me. It still blows my mind the number of people who want to do something to help. Now, for me accepting the help has been the hard part. I saw accepting help as accepting defeat, and I am not going to lose this fight. Finally, my body yelled at me to not see it as defeat, but to see as an assist in the battle. Game changer! Now instead of it being a one woman show, with my kick ass hubby by my side, we have a fabulous ensemble. 

The meals and treats are amazing and much appreciated. It is certainly nice knowing that I don't have to figure out what we are eating for dinner. With nothing tasting as it should, I don't crave food like I used to. I will say that once my taste buds are back, I'm going out and getting a nice juicy prime rib dinner though. The calls and texts from my friends are priceless. Spending so much time home alone during the day, getting a hello text helps to remind me that I am not alone in this battle. It is really the little things that mean so much.

As I'm typing this, I am getting my first infusion of the T chemo. It is supposed to be easier to tolerate. The downside is it comes with a list of possible allergic reactions. The day before chemo I have to take a bunch of steroids to combat this. The plus side is the steroids make me hungry and I might be able to bench press a car while I'm on them. The downside is I was up until 3am last night. The steroids and my anxiety were stronger than the medication they gave me to counteract it. Another plus is that once they figure out what reactions I might have to it, the infusion time should only be about an hour. I'll take that over the 3+ hours for the A&C. The downside is that I'll be coming to the infusion office twice a week; one time for lab draws and the other for my infusion. At least gas prices are dropping. 

Now to start the countdown on finding the exit on my road through hell. Number 1 out of 12 is almost done. Here's to hoping that there are no potholes in the road and that my friends stick out this journey with me.