Insomnia Sucks! It's 11pm as I sit here typing, and I'm not tired yet. I haven't slept more than an hour at a time for the last 4 nights and should be wrecked right now...not because of insomnia, but because of Maryn! She has been sleeping through the night for about the last 5 months, but suddenly in the last week, has been sleeping horribly. However, over the last 4 nights she has been waking a minimum of 4-6 times a night, screaming & crying. Jeff and I have had a terrible time trying to get her calm enough to go back to sleep...not sure what is causing it. We've tried better lighting, leaving a sippy cup with milk or water in her crib, hoping that getting back into daycare this week would help to get expend some of her energy...nothing has worked. Ryland, by the way, has been sleeping through the night since he was 7 weeks old! Amazing...what a dream. If we weren't officially done having children, he would certainly make me want more children (although Jeff isn't fooled by his charm and prefers the 1-on-1 defense as opposed to the zone defense parenting tactics used with 3+ children).
So, tonight is night 5 of no sleep. You would think I would be exhausted, but I went in for treatment today...thus getting my kick start with the evil Decadron (if only I had known about this when I was at the Coast Guard Academy...it would have allowed me to function much better than No-Doze & Coffee! I just took half of a sleeping pill, hoping that will ease me into a sleepy state & I can finally get a good night's rest. My mind will race for the next 3-4 days, as if I'm on a 3-pot coffee buzz. Mornings are a bit rough, as that is the time that I am finally tired. BUT, I have never been great at taking daytime naps, and have trouble falling asleep when the sun is up.
My blood work was great this week - my friend, Neupogen, seems to be working wonders with my white blood cell counts. This week, my whites were 7.8 - so no shots on Thurs, Fri & Sat of this week. Woohoo!
I have started to experience a few more side effects over the last week. My feet are both starting to become numb...the right foot is worse than the left. On my right foot, from the 2nd toe to my pinky toe I feel mild numbness (Level 1 neuropathy), kind of like I just got done running a few miles downhill and my toes have gone to sleep from the constant beating at the end of my running shoes. The left foot is similar, but I have more normal sensations with this foot. I am still experiencing some of the heaviness & tingling in my shoulders and arms for a few hours after receiving the infusions, but they go away by the end of the evening. The bloody noses have also increased. Apparently, the Herceptin causes thinner membranes to be friable (bleed easily). Using a kleenex when blowing/wiping my nose (it's running because of allergies & a lack of nose hairs to catch the drips) has been been braking the membranes inside my nose, and will cause it to bleed for a few minutes at a time. I found that wiping my nose with baby wipes seems to be a little more gentle (note to self: put another case of those on the Costco shopping list!). I have been much more tired over the last week as well, but that's probably a combination of Maryn's rotten sleeping schedule and all of the drugs.
My hair is getting thinner & thinner as each day passes. I had a small rat's worth of hair piled up in the drain by the end of the shower, and now I definitely have the balding look. My 1 existing gray hair is holding on tight! I showed Jeff - I found my first gray hair shortly after Maryn was born, and Jeff pulled it, saying that he was getting rid of the evidence for me. What a good husband - but I worked hard for that gray hair. =) #2 gray is a tough hair...I'm wondering if my whole head will come back gray when my hair grows back for the 2nd time after being completely done with chemo. If so, I've certainly earned it!
We've had a lot of change over the last week in our house. My sister, Jamie, left on Saturday morning. She was fun to have around the house and was able to pitch in a bit. Jeff's parents were here until Monday morning, and returned to Idaho after having been here for 3 wks. They were wonderful to have in the house, and helped to get many projects completed. AND, last, but not least - Kaitlin flew home yesterday morning for the year. She is thinking about moving in with us for good next summer, and would get to experience high school in California (and Jeff's boot camp in our house). Luckily, we live in one of the top school districts in the state. If this happens, we would need to move into a bigger house to give her the privacy she needs as a teenager, and to keep our sanity with some additional space. However, our WONDERFULLY AMAZING landlords are open to the possibility of putting a room addition on our current house, which would meet all of our needs (including installing central air & heat and adding a 2-car-garage). That would be our perfect answer. Hopefully we'll narrow down our options in the next couple weeks and will find out if the addition to the house will come to fruition.
I think that's about the latest from our house. We are back to normal...Jeff, the kids, Baxter and I all hanging out and trying to get back into a routine. I hope this post finds you healthy & happy!
Leanne, Jeff, Kaitlin, Maryn, Ryland & Baxter
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