One month chemoversary!

It's been one month and one day since my last treatment of ABVD chemotherapy. Time flies when you're not having chemo!

While I've had a few 'hiccups' (I'll get to those later), all and all it's been a pretty great month. Here are some updates:

Overall health
I've been feeling great...as in pre-treatment great! While some people are horribly sick at the time of diagnosis, my only symptom was my swollen lymph node above my collarbone. Other than that I felt totally healthy, which is how I feel now. I have read about many people who undergo ABVD who say that it takes months -- if not years -- to feel normal again. I consider myself very lucky that it took me just a week or so after treatment to feel normal. Of course, Hodgkin's taught me that feeling healthy doesn't necessarily mean you are healthy, but overall I think this is a pretty good sign that my body is strong and I have, indeed, defeated The Hodge.

Fitness
Growing up, I was always pretty sporty, playing a bunch of organized sports at various levels of competitiveness. In college and beyond, I still liked to stay active but I never had the discipline to go the extra mile (pun intended!) without the structure of organized sports. That said, I would like to do some sort of physical challenge this year. I will hopefully be going on a kayaking trip with First Descents this summer (they are an amazing organization -- check them out!), which is something I've been excited about since I started treatment. Additionally, I am considering the Five Boro Bike Tour, which is a bike ride through each of the New York City boroughs (it's about time I get to the Bronx!) and/or doing some sort of triathlon.

Thankfully, I was able to stay pretty active during chemo. I wasn't doing Crossfit or anything, but I did continue to do yoga/cardio classes. Since I've been done with chemo, I've tried pushing myself more in each class in preparation for whatever the Fun Sporty Adventure of 2015 may be.

Hair
The hair gods were pretty merciful to me during chemo. While I lost most of the hair on my head, I kept both my eyebrows and eyelashes. They aren't exactly what they were pre-chemo, though. They did shed a bit, but mostly they bleached. However, with regular mascara and eyebrow mascara (which is a thing -- go figure), they look pretty much normal. Unfortunately, they still have not changed back to their normal color, so I'm starting to get a little impatient. Beggars can't be choosers, but sometimes all a girl wants is to have some Cara Delevingne eyebrows!

As for hair on my head, I'm happy to report that it's growing -- faster than I expected, but slower than I want. Right now it's almost to a short pixie, though there are still a few patches that are thinner than others. Oftentimes post-chemo hair grows in a different color or texture for the first few months. Mine is the same color, but the texture is a little different. Think what a mild to moderate electrocution would do to your hair, and that's how mine feels. I've been trying to limit how often I wash it, and I've been conditioning it a ton with coconut oil. I like to think that is helping, but right now it's still pretty...electric. I still wear my wig most of the time when I go out, though I have been starting to rock my 'deliberately short pixie' (that's what I'm calling it, rather than my 'electric post-chemo hair') at the gym, but that's only because I get sweaty and I'm sick of wearing scarves.

Needless to say this is a BIG improvement from my awful male pattern baldness days. I do have a few pictures that I took to document the terror, but those bad boys will never see the light of the internet so I guess I'll just have to leave it to your imagination.

So, for the most part, all good, right? Almost. I mentioned above that I have had a few 'hiccups'. These 'hiccups' are all attributed to blood thinners -- first the dreaded Lovenox injections and now the almost as dreaded Warfarin pills. What's so bad about taking a pill, you might ask. Well, this pill comes with some strings attached: finger pricks.

My last post discussed the process behind Warfarin, and how it takes some trial and error to find the right dosage. Factors such as diet -- those who eat more Vitamin K will need a higher dosage -- and body chemistry will affect the dosage.

I started on 5 mg (1 pill) of Warfarin on February 19th. I went in twice in my first week to get my INR checked. To do this requires a finger prick where the nurse then smears your blood onto a machine that gives you the INR instantaneously. I was told that it could take 3-7 days for the Warfarin to "kick in" -- meaning, to have an impact on INR levels. Until I reached my ideal 2-3 range, I would have to continue with the Lovenox shot. For those of you keeping track, that means 2 jabs of Lovenox and a finger prick. What a scam!

Well, after a week, my INR levels stayed the same -- 0.9. As I mentioned in the earlier post, this is a normal level for normal people not on Warfarin. My goal was to get to 2-3. So, this required playing with my dosage. We tried a couple days at 10 mg (2 pills), which brought me up to a whooping 1.1! Then we tried a couple days at 15 mg (3 pills), which brought me to 1.9. So close! At this point, my doctor advised me to reduce my dosage to 12.5 mg (2.5 pills) and get re-tested after the weekend. Come Monday, my INR level was 2.1. Bingo!

You would think that would be it, right? That 12.5 mg was the secret dosage? Well, three days later -- yesterday -- my INR was at 2.9, which is the high end of what they want. Let's just say my blood definitely seemed thinner at that point -- I bled through two different bandages after my finger prick. My new plan is to switch of my dosage from 10 mg to 12.5 mg every other day until my next test on Monday. Hopefully by then things will be stable so I can stop my tri-weekly finger prick.

While it's been nice to not have to do the twice a day Lovenox, these finger pricks are a big pain in the you-know-what. Luckily, I only work part-time and have a flexible schedule; I don't know how people who work full-time are able to accommodate all of those appointments! When all is said and done, though, I'd much rather go in for a finger prick than get chemotherapy, so I guess it's all about perspective.

So, until my scan on March 18th, I think things will be pretty quiet. And sunny. And warm. And relaxing....because next week I am going to the Dominican Republic! My family and I are going to celebrate the end of chemo and my mom's upcoming "milestone" birthday (I don't think she would approve of me telling the world her age). Ciao, winter!