So How's Chemo Going?

I get this question quite a bit, presumably because I'm not posting about my cancer-killing adventures quite as much as I used to. Truth be told, working on The WunderGlo Foundation website and planning for our next event has taken up most of my non-work time, so I apologize for not checking in quite as often. I'll put "update the WunderGlo blog more frequently" on my ever-growing to-do list along with "enjoy the taste of wheatgrass shots" (I don't know how that's really ever going to happen). Updating the blog is definitely more delightful than those little green mouthfuls of sunshine.

So, back to the pressing question -- how's chemo going?

Really well, actually. This new cocktail of mine (FOLFIRI + Avastin) is actually easier on me than the cocktail I was on the first time around (FOLFOX + Avastin). The only drug that was swapped out was the OX in FOLFOX (oxaliplatin) and the only new drug swapped in was the IRI (irinotecan), but I can really feel the difference. Instead of a hangover-like headache/queasiness for a day or so that I used to get with FOLFOX, FOLFIRI only gives me a bit of fatigue which generally translates into a day or so of relaxing in bed and asking my three nurses to do everything for me. As usual, I start to feel the effects of chemo on the Wednesday after infusion, the day I'm detached from my bag o' chemo. So Wednesday is sleepy day, Thursday is "hey, I'm feeling less sleepy and more like myself" day, and by Friday, I am back to my old tricks at the office and at the gym (and running all over town). 

I'd go so far as to say that FOLFIRI has been downright pleasant. Think about it with me. I infuse on Monday, chill out during that week, work from home, take naps, eat well, sleep late, and bounce right back a few days later. No headache. No poop issues. No aches or pains. No appetite issues. And I'm killing cancer! That sounds like a mighty good time to me.

As anyone who has followed me on this journey from the very beginning of treatment knows, I've done remarkably well with chemo. I've largely sidestepped any difficult side effects, and I've maintained my weight and strength through it all. Actually, that's incorrect -- I've gotten bigger and stronger while on chemo. 

You could say that I've just gotten really lucky, but I think it might be more than that.

People generally think of chemotherapy as this debilitating, death-accelerating, super scary thing, but I never thought that way. I wanted to partner with chemo. I embraced its presence and purpose in my body. We were going to beat the hell out of cancer together. And when you think about it, it's totally true. Chemo is largely responsible for saving my life. It worked last year, with FOLFOX taking a big bite out of the massive amount of cancer I had lurking in my belly which made it possible for my surgery to be the success that it was.  

And it's working now, deftly and efficiently killing off those half-dead cancer cells just like I want it to. I'm relishing this rout of "the cancer" and I'm celebrating the medicine that's helping me beat this disease into oblivion. There's no stopping the two of us.