Week after chemo 2

Disclaimer: The reason the writing is short is that I use my phone to post. The past 10 days were better than the last post chemo week. Taste buds seemed better, no hiccups, no mouth needles. Had nausea and constipation ... Never tossed my cookies and constipation wasn't too bad. I had more tired moments where I felt like a zombie took over my body. I ran a few times and continued with push-ups and pull-ups. I gargle many times a day with salt water, use lotion twice a day on my skin and take antacid pills.  My family continues to be super helpful.  My friends have been great too, calling me every few days. My high school buddies and my college roomy from Taylor keep me up-beat. Also, my mom and dad have been awesome. My dad and I have been able to go fishing a few times, energy permitting.  Here is a picture from yesterday at Riffe Lake. We caught a bunch of nice ones. These are the four biggest smallmouth bass of the day. They were all released back alive.  The overcast day made it nice. What a blessing from God. I feel like prayers are being answered hourly. Thanks so much! I continue to praise him in the storm. The picture is cut off as we had no one to take our picture. The cat picture is for a fellow blogger and because Luna the cat has been extra nice to me lately. Please pray for my next treatment on Thursday and that I won't catch any germs as my immune system is dangerously low. Finally, pray for Andrea as she has been working so hard to keep me healthy. 

Second Chemo A Quick One

The week leading up to my second chemo treatment was a good one. I ran a few times and continued with push-ups and pull-ups. Didn't miss any work. Felt pretty normal. Andrea has been such an amazing supportive wife. My dad flew in Wednesday and on our way to Seattle, I decided to buzz my hair short to get ready for the fallout. The chemo went in twice as fast as they weren't worried about alergic reactions. It didn't seem to affect my taste as much. The nausea came as usual. I feel like God is answering so many prayers. Thank you all so much and don't stop. If you have a prayer request let me know too. Sorry, no  body reveal this week as I didn't want pops to show me up. My dad cut his hair short for support. :) Weighed in at 175 so weight loss not a problem so far. 

First Week Down

Well, thanks to all your positive thoughts and amazing prayers, the first week went well. I am so fortunate to have prayers coming in from all over the world, Thailand, Hawaii, Ohio, Wasington.... Thanks so much. I was able to make it to work Friday through Thursday. As for side effects from the chemo, food tasted awful the day of chemo and for the next two days. I had uncontrollable hiccups the day after. Super tired days two and three. I was nauseated, but didn't throw up for 3 days after, off and on. The second through fourth day my mouth felt like I had needles in it when I ate. The third through sixth day had heartburn. Most of the time I had a slight headache. I won't mention constipation. What was really tough is that I can't be around sick people. This past week everyone in my family had a bad cold and a couple people at work were also under the weather. So I spent the week dodging germs. With all that being said, this week I was able to work, go to a soccer match with a friend, jog three times, average 50 push-ups and 20 pull-ups every other day!! My weight is 174.  Andrea has been an angel. Pray for her strength. One huge answer to prayer is that my dad is coming to town and will be here for chemo 2-4. While I feel so lucky and blessed, I have to remember that faith is not about everything turning out ok, it's knowing you will be ok no matter how things turn out. 

Day 1 of chemo

First treatment is over. I had a bed next to a window where I could see Lake Washington and Mt. Rainier. My nurse was great. The chest port worked perfectly. Took 9 hours to get all of the chemo

in. They had a menu where I could order lunch and dinner. I had salmon for dinner with a salad and soup and sandwich for lunch. Had minor alergic reaction to first bag (itchy throat). I listened to a book (Pillars of the Earth), slept, read my Bible, prayed, watched some tv. I'm a little nauseated now. The only bad thing was the last bag gave me the runs. :)  One other thing, food started tasting strange within a few hours. :( Weight today was 176 lbs. Swam twice in last 4 days and ran once. Hard to believe how fast things are going. Stomach surgery and port placement surgery over last five weeks. Here is my day 1 after chemo picture. I'm going to try and post once per week.