Chemotherapy - Round 3

I have my last treatment (4th dose) of chemotherapy tomorrow, and I realized I haven't documented my 3rd treatment yet. 

It was about 3 weeks ago and it hit me much harder than the first 2, which is expected since chemo is cumulative. Day of chemo, they couldn't get my vein again and finally brought an ultrasound tech to search for my good vein. He finally found a good one but told me it is a "deep one". Ugh. I didn't want to hear that. But I was just grateful he was able to get a vein. So a couple days after chemo, I literally felt like I wasn't even here, like my body was here but my mind was gone and I had no energy for anything. I also had a much more severe rash reaction to the chemo this round. The first 2 rounds they thought it was just acne caused by the steroids that I take for 3 days after chemo, but this third round was ridiculous. My back was literally COVERED and I went in for them to check it out and they determined it isn't an acne reaction  but it's a rash reaction to the chemo. Unfortunately there's not much they can do, I just have to deal with it. They gave me another steroid to help, but it didn't do too much. I also had a few days of feeling depressed and emotional. Luckily I have my sweet husband to help me on those rough days. He is so sweet and helps me with so much. I am still sleeping in my daughter's bedroom and so Tanner comes and tucks me and massages me every single night. Granted it isn't always the longest massage, but it is so sweet and I'm really going to miss it after this is all over. Maybe he will stay in the routine :)

I still am dealing with the lymphedema and it's really annoying, but I'm slowly getting used to it. Some people that have it will have to deal with it every few months, and some only every few years, so time will tell. I am hoping and praying it's not going to be an issue, but I'm mentally preparing myself to deal with it all the time. I have to wear a compression sleeve and glove from my fingertips to my armpit 23 hours a day to make the swelling in my wrist stay down. I can't imagine how it will feel during the heat of the summer!!!! 

So I've only got one more treatment! Yay. I can't even explain how excited I am to feel like myself again. In a couple of weeks, I will have breast reconstruction surgery and then I'll be on a medication for 5 years to prevent anything coming back and then that should be it. One of the downsides to this medication is that I can't get pregnant while on the medicine, so I am really upset about that. By the time I can have another baby, Kaydence will be about 9 or 10! But hey, at least I'm going to be healthy for my future kids that are anxiously waiting. I am so excited for 2013. I feel like it's going to be a great year.