Titty Gate

Phase 4 Start Date Postponed:

I was supposed to begin radiation tomorrow which would have brought my finish date on treatment close to the end of the year which I was really aiming for- to leave cancer in 2022.

However, as much as I strive to be the overachiever that I am… my body had other plans.

Last week I came down with a cold 2 days before chemo. By the time Saturday night arrived post Chemo, my voice was gone and I felt like garbage. I spent the day in bed Sunday night and was kept awake with fits of coughing and stabbing back pain all Sunday evening. I was pretty sure I had a kidney stone. I tried some home remedies and the pain went away but the coughing did not. I coughed for 3 nights straight. I felt like absolute garbage Wednesday and 6am on Thursday morning I was met with a pain that had me doubled over in my back. So I took myself to the ER at Phelps where I spent the entire day receiving a chest X-ray, CT Scan of kidneys, fluids, IV Motrin, nebulizer treatment, etc. I was so tired I voluntarily took a nap in the ER.

The end result was I have 2 kidney stones that are not too big I cannot pass on my own. My chest X-ray did not show pneumonia but I did go home with antibiotics and an inhaler for the cough.

I have spent the entire weekend in my bed recovering. The kidney pain hasn’t returned and the cough has all but disappeared. My body still aches and I know that it’s a combination of the cold, the stones, and the chemo. The taxol side effects are cumulative and many feel worse afterwards. I’ve experienced neuropathy in my toes and hands all weekend. My body just aches. My legs are heavy, I’m still tired after days of resting. I still just feel “off”.

Though I feel much better, I know my body was trying to tell me it needed a break. And so as much as I want to be done, I have to listen to her and continue to let her rest. So I decided to push radiation back a week.