I was trying to get up for church and then could not face it and went back to sleep repeatedly. I finally started at 9ish with the small hope I could still make Palm Sunday service and see Susie in the afternoon after church Sunday school. But, as I had feared, the eleventh day of chemotherapy was crushing me. Allergies had combined to weaken me further.
I had peanut butter toast for breakfast with coffee. Nausea, combined with some weakness, made it impossible for me to leave the house. I took the anti-nausea drugs that preclude driving and an anti-histamine to stop coughing, sneezing, and drainage. All the meds combined will make me extra sleepy and well loopy.
I called and couldn’t reach Susie’s nurse at Forest Grove Rehab and Care Center, so I asked them at 3900 Pacific Highway that Susie in 44A needed to know that her husband was too ill from chemo to drive in he was OK. This happened in the last cycle when I missed about three days of visits.
At least the blog writes itself, and I managed to finish it by noon. I also watched the Palm Sunday service at First United Methodist in Beaverton. The Rev. Anne Weld-Martin gave the sermon. I wish I could remember it, but that is not Anne’s fault. It is hard to focus when one is grabbing for the meds for discomfort. I also managed to add an additional check box of side effects and kept the restroom in sight all day. I have random joint pain, headache, and difficulty selecting words. I am trying to complete the whole checklist before the last cycle ends on Wednesday night.
Not able to imagine doing anything, I order a late breakfast or brunch from La Provence at Orenco Station via GrubHub (thanks, Nike and the NYC bunch, for the cards). I ordered Risotto Cakes & Eggs with one of their perfect Croissants with a bit of Brie. Corwin was not up yet, but I thought he could try something I have never had, Baked Eggs a la Francaise. It arrived still warm and was a nice break from suffering.
Aside: My nausea does not impact eating, strangely. It affects keeping things inside and is mostly just a reminder of the chemo. It gets worse after day ten when, I assume, the chemo has reached some level in my body that it starts to get to work and poison me. Again, not recommended as a party drug.
I use my electric blanket and watch Marvel movies deciding to go for broke and watch the ones with Thanos. When they were released, I did not like them, thought them illogical, and the film seemed to be trying to complete an apocalyptic checklist. So I decided to try them again and see if I really disliked them.
Yes, I dislike them still. The second movie, Avengers: End Game, is better and lighter with some running gags. I am only 1/2 through it. Instead of rehashing New York City under attack, it also uses the best material, Black Panther and Vision.
I went to bed after 1AM, leaving my Apple sitting in the trash bin in the living room (?!). I managed to fall asleep before 2AM. I slept until 5:45 and then rolled over and did not start until after 9. This is my first, slightly interrupted, eight hours of sleep in weeks.
It is the anniversary of the RMS Titanic leaving on its only journey 110 years ago. It was delayed days due to a coal strike and left with a fire in one of the coal bunkers in the ship’s bow. The Titanic nearly crashed into the liner New York, which delayed its departure by hours. When the ship stopped to pick up passengers in Ireland, an officer locked the binoculars away and forgot to return them to the lookouts. Thus they had to rely only on their eyes and smell, and hearing (ice is often smelled and heard before it is seen) to spot ice. When the fateful night game a few days later for the RMS Titanic, the Atlantic was calm as a millpond according to Captain Smith–he claimed in all his years he had never seen the Atlantic so calm. So there was no smell, no crashing sounds of waves, nor the white foam from the crashing to show the base of the ice, to alert the lookouts in time.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 