The aliens are leaving the body!

I am happy to report that I did feel well enough to attend derby practice this morning! I woke up starving this morning which is always a good sign, so I grabbed a quick bite to eat, grabbed my skates and headed to practice. At practice, I got wiped out during a scrimmage, landing on my butt and hitting my head! I guess that's what protective gear is for! Now my right butt cheek is very swollen and bruised but you know what, I'm not very bothered by it. Yeah, it hurts but that's what you gotta expect in Roller Derby. And since Derby makes me feel "alive", it'll take a lot more than that to keep me away. After practice, I took my sore and bruised butt out to lunch with my mom, who comes down every time I have chemo, and my sister. They had come to see me at practice this morning (mostly to keep an eye on me I think!) But I enjoyed our lunch very much. After lunch I went home, took a hot shower and settled down with a good book (Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture).

Then about 3 pm, the alien baby started acting up! Again, he managed to scare the dog. Poor Harley looked startled, jumped up and ran away! He went and hid in the corner. But when the alien baby starts acting up and growling, it's a sign that I had better be close to the bathroom. And then about 6 pm, it started. The toxins started to pour out the body. Don't get me wrong, you want the toxic chemicals out of your body as quickly as possible but that's what zaps all your energy. I'm starting to feel fatigued but luckily have nothing pressing on my schedule for the next few days. I know that I can get through this last go-round with chemo as I've done it 5 times before.

Now lets just hope the side effects from Herceptin alone are not as severe. According to the Herceptin website, Herceptin is not chemotherapy. Once you finish chemotherapy and are receiving Herceptin alone, many of the chemotherapy-related side effects will likely go away or be less severe. But the most common side effects associated with Herceptin are fever, nausea, vomiting, infusion reactions, diarrhea, infections, increased cough, headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, rash, low white and red blood cells, and muscle pain. We won't know if the effects will be less severe until after March 12, when my first dose of Herceptin only is administered. So, keep your fingers crossed!