Three more visits to the fifth floor of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Three more times I need them to find a good vein so I can finish chemo without a port.

Three more days spent with ice circulating my head in attempts to save what is left of my hair.

Three days out of my first dance with the “red devil chemo” and I feel.. I feel OK. Truly.

If you were to take my cumulative knowledge of chemotherapy, I’d have told you I would be balled up and puking on my bathroom floor right now. Perhaps it’s because I’m younger than your average cancer patient. Perhaps all these years being a gym rat paid off and my body is responding like a well oiled machine. Perhaps it’s just dumb luck. Maybe the red devil will win the next battle. However, right now.. I’m winning.

My biggest side effect has been fatigue. I slept for the better part of the first 36 hours after chemo. I don’t remember any of the conversations I had during that time. It’s all a chemical dream…puffy little Ativan clouds…puff puff.  Could be worse, right?!

Lack of appetite / loss of taste / mild nausea seem to be the only other side effect I’m experiencing. The only flavor I can really taste is sweet – watch your chocolate around me! I’ll take the loss of appetite though – Taxol was a jerk and gave me an extra 7ish lbs. The Red Devil can take those 7lbs right on back, por favor.

And hey! quick footnote. I had an MRI between my chemo treatments and we found that Uncle Joey can’t hang with the chemo. My “total area of disease” (the DCIS and two tumors of IDC) has reduced by 60% (CHEERS TO THAT!) My largest tumor (“dominant mass”) has gone from 22mm x 20mm to 16mm x 18mm which drops it to a T1 tumor. My multiple “suspicious” lymph nodes have decreased dramatically and the largest has gone from almost 2cm to .9cm – the average lymph is .5-1cm, so things are looking good in there!

The murder plot is well underway.