Brooke Giellis

So today it has officially been 180 days since I was diaganosed.  The only reason I know that today is 180 days is because I was officially fired from my job today.  Of course we all knew it was coming and while is sounds kind of sad the reality is that a company shouldn’t have to wait forever for an employee to return.  I do have long term disability benefits so we will be fine.  But the better news is that the company I work for is holding a job for me and I hope to return at the beginning of the year.

Tomorrow I begin the second half of the round I am in  (each round is 8 weeks) and will be getting a fabulous spinal tap and some other chemo’s.  It will be a long day to say the least.  I will then stay accessed through my port so I can self administer chemo and fluids at home throughout the week.  This is very much like a round that I did around the May / June time frame when I first started with my doctor.  I feel like I have a good idea of how I will feel after tomorrow but then again it has been a while since I have had this cocktail of chemo’s so I don’t remember what to expect.

I have started working out when I feel well.  I had noticed that my strength had decreased significantly so I did some research on strength training and exercising during chemo.  The docs gave me the go ahead so the goal is to get two lifting sessions in a week and a total of 150 minutes a week of light cardio such as walking or eliptical.  I have to watch my heart rate so can’t do anything crazy and can’t lift super hard.  I was able to get some good workouts in this last week which was pretty easy considering I felt decent.  I will have to report back on how I do this coming week when not feeling as good.  Many of the studies say that exercise will reduce the side effects and recomened trying to push through even when not feeling well.  What is interesting is that I can’t remember when the last time I consistently got in this much exercise but I do have a lot of free time on my hands.  Hopefully I stick with it!

I got some bad news on the clinical trial I was hoping to get into, as I originally expected there is an age limit after all at 30.  The doctors are trying to appeal that but right now it isn’t looking so good. Part of me is disapointed but part of me really doesn’t want to do the trial becuase I will be at the hospital all day every day I get the shot.  So since each round is six shots in two weeks I would be spending a lot of time at the hospital.  Of course if by some chance I do get in I will do it, I don’t want to look back and regret not doing it.

Well I think that is about all the news I have.  Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Brooke