Chemo #13

Ahh...the glories of surgery recoup+chemo+COVID 19+social clampdown...

First, I know that I said I'd post a few days back and then didn't.

The thing about all of this is that I feel like I am constantly checking myself for symptoms. How do you know if you're catching something you've never HAD? How do you know if your Spouse and precious off-spring have become harborers of a slow growing killer or NOT? Why do I want them all just to stay 6 feet away from me (for reasons that have nothing to do with the virus)?

Compound this with recovering from (a still glorious) surgery.

I had some "gas" complications - Seriously, I try not to question the suffering in all of this, but did I have to get all of the embarassing sicknesses? Sunday, I was having pretty bad pains all over my body...

Conclusion #1: I've got the COVID. Elon Musk better be making those ventilators.

Also, I had a tiny temp (not much more than my standard since the surgery)...

Conclusion #2: aches and temperatures are the signs. I haven't been able to smell or taste much since the first 12 rounds of chemo, so that's out as a diagnostic for me.

But...I have been taking hydroxychloroquine (currently freaking out that the rich celebrity people are hoarding my new cancer meds) and I was given amoxicillin after the surgery -- so I was unknowingly taking the drugs being studied as the cure. (score 1 for cancer & what I believe is God's Hand in this, really)

"Spouse had enough alert": Shawn called my GI doctor (the on-call surgeon) who proceeded to tell us that almost no one has surgery complications after their two-week check goes well (which mine did). New symptoms are rare to the point of non-existent. He said, "She should take Colace (stool softener) and Gas-X (pretty self-explanatory). And move around" (shout out to my sister-in-law who said I should try the gassy baby trick of pushing my legs into my stomach - during the family zoom call). The doctor was pretty sure I just wasn't moving around much (uhh...it's a pandemic, doc, and I just had abdominal surgery ... ya' think?)

It's a sad weekend when you are looking forward to chemo so that the medical professionals can check you out because there is no way in God's Green Earth that you are stepping inside a hospital unless you have too.

All of that drama to say that after being checked out for chemo, I had no temp today, my blood work was, "great" (so no infection of any type) and it's probably hard to live with me "olfactorally" speaking. It's a Silent But Deadly way of letting out my aggression.

The two younger boys begin school tomorrow because last week was their spring break.

I apologize to the world because I think God's just making me do-over the terrible job I did homeschooling last year. Our oldest actually said, "Why didn't we homeschool like this last year?" I just stared at him and then said "This year, you have 10-12 professionals working on your 5 hour day...last year, you just had me." (for clarity, our middle school changes classes and so he has a different teacher for each period as well as tech support at the school and a Chaplin and Principal - there are A LOT of people vying for Chromebook time up in here).  I am so impressed with D's school and how they are handling it.

And Chemo went the same as always - except it was lonely, and empty, and I prayed a lot...so that's probably better, honestly.