Jul 27

Chemo Cycle #2 – delayed a week

8am Tuesday – In 45 minutes I’ll be at the doctor’s office starting labwork for my 2nd chemo treatment. Between now and then I’m going to eat a wonderful breakfast of eggs and fruit, and during after chemo my parents are going to bring us lunch. Yay!

I hope to update this post later after my chemo today, and the chemometer in the right sidebar of my blog can move up to 16.66%. We’re getting closer to 100%!

1145am – we got my bloodwork done this morning, and my white counts were too low for me to have chemo today. When we saw the doctor last Tuesday, my white counts were okay to have chemo, but it looks like my bone marrow has continued to react to the chemo drugs over the past week. New plan of action: chemo next Tuesday on Aug. 3, hormone to stimulate bone marrow to help my white counts on Wednesday Aug. 4 so my treatment will not be delayed again, and until then, no salad, raw fruits or vegetables, and no going outside. We have to be careful that I do not get an infection with my white counts so low. Of course, with this week’s temperature forecast, it may be a GOOD THING that I’m under doctor’s orders to not go outside.

This delay is a bit disheartening, but we’re going to just move past it, focus on resting, eating well, drinking enough to stay well hydrated (no more gin&tonics this week), and urging my bone marrow to recover and produce lots more white blood cells so I can keep kicking cancer cell butt!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.andrewmacdonald.com/chemo-cycle-2/

Jul 26

New Hairdo

If you’ve noticed the new feature on the right sidebar of my blog, you can see how many days it has been since I started chemo. Today is Day 13, and tomorrow on Day 14, I will have my 2nd chemo treatment.

We’ve learned that most people lose their hair between Days 14 and 21 of chemo, so I am preparing myself for that, and enjoying my hair while I still have have it. A friend of mine who has worked with breast cancer patients and is familiar with the hair loss process due to chemo says that my scalp will be sensitive and tingly before my hair starts falling out. Here’s an article article on the Mayo Clinic website about chemotherapy and hair loss: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hair-loss/CA00037.

We’ve also learned that it is good to cut your hair short before it starts falling out. Don’t shave it completely, but cut it using a #1 or #2 guard… so today, I went to Curry’s Volunteer Barber Shop over in Homberg, and he cut my hair to just the right shortness, AND he did it freestyle. It looks great.

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I’m going to enjoy it while I can, and then it will all fall out, and I won’t need to worry about getting another haircut for 6 months.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.andrewmacdonald.com/new-hairdo/

Jul 26

Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Title: Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor
Location: The Knoxville Civic Auditorium
Link out: Click here
Description: Bought 6 tickets for this show 10 MINUTES after they went on sale. Jacqui and I are taking all of our parents to the show. It’s going to be a blast!
Date: 2010-09-08

Permanent link to this article: https://www.andrewmacdonald.com/prairie-home-companion-with-garrison-keillor/