No, not that kind of drinking, you lushes. I’ve never been much of a drinker, as just about anyone could tell you, and haven’t had a drop of alcohol since I was diagnosed, strangely enough. It did occur to me on that day to go out and get blasted, but that sort of thing doesn’t appeal to me when I’m in good health anyway, and the sane part of my cranium took over.

So what are we drinking?

Boost, nasty chocolate-flavored, vegetable-oil filled, high calorie, no fiber, high protein drink. Sip. Water. Sip. Swallow together. It’s really the only way to get the stuff down, and has become my morning meal. Not because I can’t eat, precisely, but because it takes me so long to eat and my schedule has changed, that I would be tired out before leaving the house, just from shoving down whatever real food I may have.

And why, you may ask, has the schedule changed? Amifostene, mentioned earlier. I now have to go to radiation 30 minutes before my actual scheduled time to get two shots in the ab area (subcutaneous, for those following the technical bouncing ball). It doesn’t hurt so much – yet – as it burns when the drug goes in. Since I have to get two a day before every treatment, I’m certain that at some point my abs will feel as much like a pincushion as the rest of me is.

Since Sprint has finally kindly cooperated and allowed logins once more (they were revamping due to the merger with Nextel), here are a couple of pics for you. Icky medical stuff, so if you don’t like it, don’t look.

This is the fading(!) bruising from the first two chemo rounds, which I had in my right arm. I had it done in the left today, and have a smaller bruise. I’m hoping to get two weeks from each arm before switching between them.

This is the rash I was referring to, when it first appeared.

And this, unfortunately, is what it looks like right now. The pimples break and ooze, then dry. The bumps just kind of sit there until they decide to do something, like turn into pimples that eventually burst and ooze, or have pity on me and just stay like unwelcome houseguests.

A note about the rash: it doesn’t really itch all that much – at least, not everywhere, and not all the time. It’s rather painful in sensitive areas, like right around the nostrils. On the plus side, it’s a sign that the study drug is doing whatever it is supposed to do. On the down side: in addition to my face, neck, chest, and back, it’s also on my scalp. Since brushing my hair was becoming another adventure in pain every day – not to mention the effort it takes to actually wash my hair using my contortionist tricks to get my left hand to my head – I had my head shaved. Plus, I was starting to see more hair in the comb. I figured it will grow back anyway after we’re all done, so why not save the effort as we move into the heart of treatment?