Monday, July 14, 2008

As Expected

I have been listening to my own body. I watched and listened as my hair fell out; mouth became sore; stomach ached and heaved; bones ached; hot flashes; extreme fatigue and other weird occurrences. Each time a new symptom appeared I thought about what chemotherapy is and how it affects your body. Then a revelation hit and I said - "Oh, this is what they meant!"

Chemotherapy is designed to kill off any rapidly reproducing cells - like cancer cells. My type, myxoid round cell liposarcoma, is very aggressive and rapidly reproduces. We are hopeful that the very reason it is so dangerous is the reason it responds to chemotherapy. Unfortunately, I will only know if it works if another does not return. Each symptom that I have experienced is a result from the cell death. The stomach cells are first, hair, mouth, blood, etc. It is as if I can track the chemotherapy moving through my body.

That essentially means that I am finally having a typical reaction. Normal. What a relief. After so many weird reactions, allergies and strange occurrences, it is nice to be typical somewhere.

Next week is my next round. I hope it proceeds like round one. Some people say that symptoms get progressively worse with each round. The docs are giving me an extra week to bounce back since we are not aggressively treating a tumor.

Here I sit -- bald yet feeling strong. I will keep you posted.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If I've calculated correctly, you are in the middle of the next round. I hope it is going well. I say little prayers for you through out the day and night.
May all this poison do its job on us. Things are going better here. As long as I stay smart and listen to my body, all is well. I wish you many good days ahead. Karin