Karen Health Update--June 29, 2011

NO

this is not the wig that I will be wearing in

a few weeks, but it is a picture of one that my sweet son

sent me when he was in Seattle. If I remember

correctly, he even offered to buy it for me if I

wanted. After all, it is RED!

As you can see, we are trying our best to laugh our way through

cancer treatments.

I thought my blog might be the best way to keep people updated on

my progress rather than trying to e-mail, post on FB, etc.

One week ago today, I had my first chemo. The process, itself, wasn't bad at all.

I actually played games on my IPad and talked to David through the

whole process without any problems at all.

This past week has been one of ups and downs as I/we learn how

to handle chemo. Mandy suggested that I keep a diary so

that in future rounds I will know what to expect, and I think that

has also helped me to see that, for the most part,

every day has been pretty good.

The biggest problem has been fatigue. I'm used to "blowing and going" so

being tired is hard, but maybe God wants me to learn to be still sometimes.

I've also had a little problem with elevated pulse rate, even though my blood

pressure remains great. My oncologist today said that this is from both

the steroids and drugs and gave me medicine (another pill) to control

it. She said I didn't need to feel like I was running a marathon all the time

(and you all know, I'm not into running marathons).

I don't know if I have shared this before but my surgeon and

oncologist worked together to time my first chemo round

so that I would be in week 3 (which is the week you feel most

normal) in order to be able to enjoy a family reunion that the

Aven/Gibson/Rollett/VanLoenen/Hinojosa/Burke/Taylor

Clan is having in Colorado Springs next week.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to have my family here.

That's going to be the best MEDICINE in the whole world

(and it's not even another pill--yeah!!)