Life Just Keeps on Rolling...

Well, It has been two weeks since my last confession; haha. Hey, I still have a sense of humor, so that is good

To back it up a bit, I started my treatment two weeks ago. My first shot was difficult, scary, annoying, painful and many more such adjectives. I have my English class on Tuesday's from 6-8 p.m., and on that particular Tuesday, Sunni and I had made a plan to watch Ariel the Beginning. So, I took my shot out of the fridge and went to class, then drove to Sunni's after class was over.

Once at Sunni's, I pulled out my shot and started reading the instructions - fun right. Ya, you can't just go right into it and stab yourself, you have to read-up on it first. As much as I am usually not a person to read instructions, I realized that when you are nervous, step-by-step instructions are very helpful.After reading through the instructions once, then preparing the shot as I read through the second time, I was ready to inject myself. I was holding the shot in my right hand with my thumb over the dosing button, but I couldn't do it. Sunni was right there to help me and put her hand over mine to assist me if needed, but as we moved the needle toward my belly, I went into a fit of hysteria. I was crying and speaking unintelligibly. Sunni was amazing and just did it for me while I looked the other way and tried not to cry so much because my whole body was shaking.

Sunni gave me the shot, and it didn't hurt at all - I knew it wouldn't, the needle wasn't that big. It was just the idea of it I guess. It scared the hell out of me - I didn't want to give myself a shot - i didn't want to be starting the treatment - I was scared of what the side effects were going to be - which turned into total lack of motor control and the need to have my beautiful sister give me a shot.

After the torchure was over, we put in our movie and fell asleep on her couches.

The next two days, I had horrible headaches, but I took IB's and just went on with my life. I am used to having headaches, so if those are the only side effects, I can totally deal with that.

The next week, I was able to give the shot to myself. It was scary, but I was determined - I needed to prove to myself that I could, and I did. I opened up the box and read the instructions again to prepare myslef, then went for it.

Stabbing your belly with a needle is a little odd - but the way the instructions have you pinch your skin and then insert the needle is a good little trick because the pinch actually hurts more than the needle puncture - so props to the people who wrote the instructions.

Today I had to go to the hospital and get some blood drawn so they could send it to my doctor down in Seattle. She needs to check and make sure I'm doing ok. When my mom took the treatment, she became chemo-induced anemic, so the doc needs to check for things like that - make sure I don't need iron shots or other such nonsense.

I take my third shot tonight after class - so that will be three down - 21 to go.

So far I have been good. I am able to work and take classes - and so far i am doing a good job balancing everything because I haven't been violently ill or unable to sleep. I'm hoping it stays like this for the duration of the treatment. I did hear, though, that after a couple months, the side effects can get worse because the meds are accumulating in your body - but hopefully that will not be the case for me, or if it is, hopefully the side effects will still be minimal.