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Shannon Rinaldo - Journal

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Posted 2018-07-23T01:53:59Z

Another chemo hangover

I just came off of 5 nights of the chemo pill and it was no fun at all. Now I get 23 days off before having to take it again. This is the second 5-day maintenance dose I've had since going back on it after the most recent round of radiation and it wasn't the easiest I've had but also not the worst. I did have a few nights of hanging out in the bathroom and luckily, Jason and I were in the same house. Hence, I had backup when I needed it. Next week we will have been married for 17 years. I bet when he married me, he didn't envision patting me on the back while I threw up or driving me 9 hours and back to my doctor appointments. He says he's learning to just accept that this is the life we have. I also told him today that I'm feeling "over" the chemo since all the research says it does little to nothing for my type of tumor. He agreed that he feels similarly to me. We are a little scared to discontinue but also a little pessimistic that it's doing anything but making me feel worse. If I can just wait a bit, get this out of my system, and feel a bit better, I think I will be happier and more energetic. Today was not that day, unfortunately. One thing has remained consistent: chemo hangovers are worse than tequila hangovers (by a lot). [...]

Posted 2018-07-11T16:29:44Z

My July checkup was full of positivity

On Saturday we drove the 8 ½ hours to Houston so that I could go to my full day of doc appointments on Monday. Since my last appointments in June, I have been getting acquainted with my temporary Peli glasses and they seem to help in all sorts of situations. I can see people coming on the left, so they don’t just appear in my line of vision and scare the crap out of me. I also don’t see only part of a car coming toward us when I’m riding in the passenger’s seat. Overall, I’d say they are doing a great job for seeing at a distance, especially.[...]

Posted 2018-07-04T04:33:56Z

Be free where you are

We've been home in Lubbock for a while now and I think we've finally recovered from our road trip. I go into work each day, motivated to finish my online class, get summer data collection started, and write up some studies that I've been wanting to get back to. I was supposed to go back this week for my check up, but MD Anderson moved all of my appointments to July 9, so look for an update in about a week. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I can plan a plan but not an outcome. I must stay flexible in order to stay sane. [...]