Starting Down the Hill

Today I started round five of chemo.  IV Taxol-day one.  IP Cisplatin-day two.  Hydration and injection-day three and four.  Hydration-day five.  Weekend free unless counts go down and go to ER for hydration. IP Taxol-day 8.  Hydration days-9 & 10.  Nausea, vomiting, neuropathy in feet, and is starting in fingers.  Muscle aches, back pain.  The day and the life of an Ovarian Cancer patient with recurrent OVCA--advanced stage.  This after a successful stage one surgery and 95% cure rate.  It wasn't supposed to come back.  It did. So.  Radical chemo after a controversial second debulking surgery.  I'm bald.  Again.  I'm weak and fatigued.  Again.  My tennis game sucks when I have energy to play.  Again.

But I'm still here, with one more round to go in August.  I do not have a cancer marker to adequately determine if the treatment is working or to indicate if the cancer returns.  I will have to rely on periodical CT scans and symptoms.  Not optimum.  But I'm still here.  I'm over the top of the hill, heading for the finish line with regards to the Chemo treatment.  One that most people can't tolerate the entire treatment.  I know it's my best shot and I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to dwell on those things out of my control.  I'm only going to concentrate on the fact that I'm still here AND I'm not dead yet!