Hoping for a Good Vein

I'll be seeing my Dr. this Thursday. I always have to have a blood test to make sure that I am okay to have another Chemo. This will be 5 of 6. I never study for the blood test, but I always seem to pass ! I plan to ask him about the veins in my arms. On Chemos 2 and 3 I had blow-outs and a flare-up. The flare-up manifested itself by a vein that the IV was in began to burn and then turned a bright orange ! They removed the IV and used another vein. I think I also had a blow out on the other arm. Not sure what all this is...I looked it up and it is not too worrisome, it just means that they have to use another vein. And, it is a fairly common occurence--as the chemicals are pretty harsh and the veins get inflammed and also weaken over time.

I have been fairing pretty well this week. Been tired. Yesterday I went to bed at about 5pm. I was kind of tired today, but I fought it and went out visiting for awhile and didn't take a nap. I seem to look forward to my Chemos because, although I sleep through them and then go home and sleep some more, they make me feel better and I seem to have a lot of energy for a couple of days before the side effects start kicking in.
My feet have been bothering me. I get some peripheral neuropathy (tingling of the nerves at the end of my fingers and toes) and the balls of my feet seem to ache and burn. I bought some 3 in 1 support insoles at CVS this past week and they seem to have made a big difference !
My Chemo-brain seems to be absent so my mind is a lot clearer...knock on wood...I still have a hard time kicking myself in the arse to get things done though. I try to take care of a few things everyday. It never seems to be enough and I always seem to be behind in reviewing bills and making phone calls, etc.
I still feel fortunate and blessed that I am responding so well to the Chemo. Praise the Lord and thanks to family, clowns and friends and fellowship at Church.
This past four months have been a blur and I am just now starting to think about how serious this whole thing is. But, I am not going to let it intrude on my life. I will keep an eye on it for sure, but there is nothing I can do at this point except soldier on and be the best I can be. I never made a Bucket List and I don't plan on ever making one. I just want to get to a point where I can actually plan on activities such as volunteering and Clowning Around. I have put everything on hold, pretty much, because I never know how I am going to be feeling one day to the next. I have cut back on my pain killers. I used to wake up two or three times a night with pain, but now I can sleep 7 hours before having to get up. During the day, I try to space them out as far as I can. Sometimes my shoulder hurts, but mainly I get a tightening in my neck which is probably the result of the invasive biopsy. So...
Life is Good...Life is an Adventure !!!