Three Down, Five to Go: Chemo #3

I had my third AC chemo yesterday, and despite forgetting to bring Apples to Apples, I think we managed to have a good time anyway - thanks Mom, Aunt Melina, Blanca, Marilyn, and Carolyn!

After chemo, Kate D got into town, so we got some desserts (and giant bottles of water for me) and then went to Blanca's house, where we laid around, ordered Thai and Pinkberry for delivery, and loafed around until midnight when I remembered that I just had chemo and should probably go home.

Today I'm getting brunch at noon and then my Neulasta shot at 3:30. The nurse gave me all my blood counts yesterday at chemo, and according to my white blood cells, red blood cells, and whatever else they measure when I come in, before my first chemo, I was at the highest end of the normal range for everything - basically, except for having had cancer, I was super crazy healthy. She ran down the blood tests for before my second chemo, and then the one I did today before my third chemo, and surprisingly, nothing has changed. In fact, my white blood cells have even jumped UP slightly from where they were before my first chemo. So that's the explanation for why I haven't been feeling tired and sick all the time - I'm not!  (Thanks Neulasta, I guess)

So at this point, I really had to ask. I mean, I haven't felt nauseous or thrown up, I eat whatever I want, my blood counts haven't dropped, I'm not tired, I haven't been thrown into chemopause, and despite having shaved my head, I'm getting a little slow growing stubble action going on. The worst side effects I've had have so far been from Neulasta. So, is it working? Am I doing chemo wrong? Am I drinking so much water I'm flushing it out of my body before it can work? The nurse assured me that some people just react to chemo well, and the fact that I was, compared to the majority of people who get chemo, super crazy healthy before coming into it probably really helped. She also noted that while the internet can be a fantastic resource, much of what you find on the internet will deal with people who are having the worst possible side effects, because of course, who else is going to take to the internet to talk about it (except me, I guess?). Fair enough. I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched, but it really would be great to get through this without feeling really yucky.

Oh, and since I finally remembered -- here's a picture of the pixie cut I rocked for a few days before we shaved my head. (And no, I don't think you're ever getting totally bald pictures!)