Not to fear, symptoms are here!

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. Since my last post just about a week ago, it's all gone downhill...until today, which is why I haven't written much updates. I got my Neulasta shot on Thursday, which is the white blood cell booster. Um, booster my a$$. It boosted nothing and as a matter of fact, Friday felt like the rug had been taken out from underneath me, not just pulled, folks, YANKED.

I was very fortunate that Donna, Jason's sister-in-law, was the one who had signed up to bring lunch on Friday. Unfortunately, nothing like not being able to get up to be the good social hostess I pride myself on being. Thankfully, Donna, a proud mommy of 3, put her skills to use on Friday and made me lunch while I was near comatose. I was very proud of myself that I kept it together for company. It took a lot of strength to even sit up. After she left, I barely remember the rest of the day, other than canceling the Erev Yom Kippur dinner at my house because all I wanted to do was sleep. Comparing what I had to the flu is like comparing a Smart car to an 18-wheeler. It was bad, real bad. I could barely eat, and the thought of protein, vegetables, or even fruit made me very nauseous. Fortunately, I was able to eat light carbs and drink some lemondade. The next morning my mom brought over French Toast as it was protein and carbs, which gave me some nourishment. For all of you who know me, you know how independent I am, so asking for help is a BIG deal for me, especially when I feel like a child who could barely feed herself. There really is nothing like having your mom bring you food and prepare the plate, to make you feel like a little kid all over again, but this time not in a bad way.

Nicole came over for lunch and brought over a much requested (by my body) protein shake from a nearby smoothie place. Man, did that feel nice and refreshing going down. It was an interesting Yom Kippur as this may be the only time where Nicole (who is pregnant) and I get a medical free pass from fasting at the same time, so we figured why not spend the day together? After all, no bigger mitzvah than helping your sick friend so I'm sure Nicole got bumped up in the line to get written into the Book of Life. :-)

I napped some more Saturday and then had the pleasure of spending Saturday night with my girlfriends watching Sex and the City. I'm finally learning how to say thank you when my friends and family want to take care of me. Michele made the pizza, Marisa helped serve, and we settled in to watch some good episodes. Beth and Rafaela came by as well and it felt just like old times when we all used to watch the show together Sunday nights.

Sunday was brunch with the girls at Aroma where I found myself flushed, out of breath, and sweating. I was also having a VERY allergic reaction to the bandages used for the port insertion surgery. I looked like a burn victim! Nonetheless, as always, I had so much fun with the girls. After, I bought some additional head coverings with my mom and Rafaela and Marisa's input. Thank you, Lori, for suggesting the stores for us!

Sunday night, Jason and I stopped by my parents and everyone noticed how winded I was, and it definitely wasn't as if I had run a marathon or anything. I called the on-call physician who, once she heard my symptoms, suggested I head straight to the ER. Memorial Regional, here we are. I have to say, being a chemo patient has its perks. I get special room privileges and I was even referred to as a "VIP patient" when I needed to be picked up from radiology after my scan. VIP! I like the sound of that. :) After being pricked yet again, anemia was ruled out and after my x-ray and VQ scans came back, there was confirmation that I didn't have a pulmonary blood clot so I was released, but I was given antibiotics to get rid of my nasty allergic reaction to the bandages, which had now escalated to make me look like a burn victim even more so.

We went to bed at 1 am, and I had to wake up at 6am for work. Lesson learned the hard way - my body needs sleep more than ever before and boy, did I pay the price. I was completely out of it for the next 2 days and was so beyond tired on Tuesday morning that Jason had to drive me to the office (and yes, I even slept the entire ride up) and Alon graciously gave me a ride home. I slept from 9am-6pm last night and felt like a new person today.

It's been a long week but I wanted to check-in to all my blog followers with an update...and to explain why I've been MIA in responding to some of your emails. Stay tuned for more updates!