Sick of Being Sick

The smoke cleared from one crazy Thanksgiving and we all eased into Friday morning with care.

Simba, Alyssa and Charlie's kitten, was put to its final resting place among much sorrow.

My Dad was back in Spang Crest on his new blood thinner medications and reportedly still with an irregular pulse, but feeling and acting very strong.

My Mom woke up quite stiff and sore from her fall. I tried to warn her. Take it from someone who has taken plenty of spills and falls, it's the next couple days when you feel everything.

I woke up feeling terrible once again. The drug Interferon was driving me into the ground. I made a big decision to take a "drug holiday." Instead of going to the health campus for my injection I called and told them I wouldn't be coming today.

Last time I met with my oncologist he suggested the idea of a "drug holiday." I told him that I wanted to pursue the Interferon until the end of his planned cycle (which is the end of December) then have a CT scan to see if it was doing anything or not. Depending on the results of the scan we would continue with Interferon or switch to a new drug that was just recently released.

Interferon is a drug that supposedly has been around for sometime and used for many different cancers. Any time I would mention it to nurses at the cancer center they would scrunch up their face and ask me how I was doing it. They knew all about how rough it can be.

According to the nurses they have one other patient on Interferon, and according to the nurses she comes in every day for an IV and then goes home right to sleep until the next morning when she does it again.

I was starting to feel this way. I became so constantly tired, so weak, aches all over my body. When I folded a blanket on the bed every morning it felt like the heaviest weight in the world.

My digestion became terrible. I had a stomach ache every day. I lost 20-pounds.

Because of Interferon I missed Thanksgiving and a visit with my cousin from Florida.

I've had enough for now. It's time for a holiday. I need some time to try to regain strength before putting my body through more.

For now, all I've decided firmly upon is taking off yesterday. Barb and I are discussing what makes sense into the weeks to come.

I don't think that there will be much benefit from a one-day holiday from the drug. I meet with my oncologist again on December 10. So we're thinking it might make the most sense to stay away from the drug until we meet with the doc again and then take things from there.

Obviously missing Friday's injection alone won't just make everything better. These drugs change your whole metabolism. It will take awhile for me to build up my strength again.

I've always been somewhat proud about how I've been able to stand-up to all of these harsh drugs. They finally found one to really pound me.